Gesture-Controlled TV : The New Future Remote Controll

We're all used to hitting the power button to switch on our television but could a wave do it in the future? Both Hitachi and Toshiba are demonstrating motion sensing televisions at this week's Consumer Electronics Show and say they could be on the market in as soon as two years.

The remote control has relieved generations of couch potatoes from the hassle of getting up to change channels, but is there an even easier way? Toshiba and Hitachi both showed prototype gesture-controlled TVs at CES. A small infrared camera watches the viewer's hand movements and translates them into action. Wave at your TV to switch it on, control the volume with circular motions or navigate a large number of video files in three dimensions with your hands.

The Toshiba TV employs three-dimensional hand gestures to allow users to navigate recorded video content. You can zoom in or out from a screen full of video clips by bring your hands closer together or further apart, start it with a gesture and then fast forward or reverse through the clip with side-to-side movements.

Toshiba said it was looking into the technology for possible use on its Cell TV, a TV set based on the powerful Cell processor. The TV is due on the market in Japan this year but the technology won't necessarily be in the first model.

The prototype, which uses a tiny Canesta 3D sensor for gesture recognition and a Hitachi TV can be controlled at distances up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) by simple hand gestures. For example, a rapid wave will power up the set, and a circular motion will change either the video source or the channel. The technology can also discriminate between single- and two-hand gestures, providing additional command options. Because of the underlying Canesta 3D sensor's immunity to extremes in room lighting or decor, the interface can work both in and out doors.

Look for it in TVs in the next two to three years . Now, we’ll all just have to wait and see what this new concept entails. It would be fun to watch the whole family waving and throwing their hands up in the air trying to change the channel, especially if each member want to watch different shows.