Video: an overview of the G-Speak technology
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The astounding technology seen in science fiction films rarely becomes a reality. We have yet to travel back in time or enjoy a chat with a hologram. So it is not surprising that many believed that the computers from films such as Minority Report and the latest James Bond were also the stuff of wild imagination.

The characters point and gesture at projected screens, using their hands to control and manipulate what they see in a vivid portrayal of the interaction between man and marvellous machine. Now the scientist who advised the film-makers on creating this futuristic vision has made these imagined technologies a reality. The development could fundamentally change the way we interact with computers, consigning the mouse to the scrapheap.

Instead of using just one hand to control a mouse, someone with “GSpeak” – after slipping on special gloves – uses both, and is able to communicate with a PC intuitively.

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“Human hands are the most sophisticated manipulating tools in the world,” said John Underkoffler, chief scientist at Oblong Industries, the Los Angeles-based company that has created the technology.

“The idea is to drop the mouse and let hands do what they’re fully capable of. That is to describe and push, poke and pull and manipulate the world.”

Using G-Speak, pointing allows you to select an object on screen. Bringing your hands closer to your body makes it look as if the object has come closer and it appears larger. Pushing your hands to one side moves the object to a different screen. Things on screen are interacted with as if they were real.

The technology is already being used in some companies and universities. But Oblong is developing it so that, in the future, it is not the preserve of the privileged few – such as an elite police force, or a renegade millionaire seen in the films on which Mr Underkoffler has been an adviser. “It’s exactly like the interface from Minority Report, except that it’s better, because its in the real world and it works,” he said.

The technology can take up entire rooms, making use of multiple screens, allowing several people to control what they see on screen at once. But Oblong is creating smaller versions for practical, everyday use that can be used in the home and at work-stations. Far from requiring a super-computer or even a particularly expensive hard-drive, G-Speak runs on personal computers that exist today. The company aim to sell the technology for not much more than the cost of a high-quality mouse, £20-£40. Oblong hopes that it will be ready for the wider public in about two years.

Mr Underkoffler believes that the gloves will replace the mouse because the system is more intuitive. “If you’ve had the experience of trying to teach your great uncle how to use a mouse, it’s frustrating,” he said. “Most people who put on the gloves are up and running within 30 seconds, because everyone knows how to point.”

G-Speak uses special “I/O bulbs” that can detect what a user does as well as emit light. The technology is being experimented with for uses such as air-traffic control or medical imaging, which could help surgeons.

“The idea is to invert the usual way of working,” Mr Underkoffler said. “The ordinary way of working that we are still tethered to is that the human must go into the machine’s world. You have to imagine yourself in the cartoon world of the desktop, and put yourself down there. We want to break open the monitor, and let the pixels go everywhere in the room – to put the interaction with the computer in the real world.”

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