Turning Your Hand Into a Remote Control

Digits takes motion control to a new level. Photo courtesy of Microsoft Research

Yes, Microsoft rolled out Windows 8 yesterday and yes, it’s the company’s biggest high-stakes launch in a long time and yes, it’s its first real plunge into the world of tablets and smart phones. Plenty of others are already covering that ground. I’d rather talk about a little device Microsoft unveiled earlier this month, something far lower on the hoopla scale.

It’s called Digits and it’s one special bracelet. But this is not some flashy bangle that dangles; this is a wrist sensor capable of turning your hand into a control unit.

Created by a team of Microsoft researchers in Great Britain, Digits uses sensors and an infrared camera to put a little Kinect device on your wrist. But the key is that it’s not tethered to a game system, plus it’s focused entirely on your hand and anything you do with it.

Motion slickness

Digits is the latest thing in motion control, tech that creates a 3D model of your hand in real time, allowing you to point to items or content on a screen rather than moving a cursor around with a mouse. Or it could, as some think, evolve into the device that ultimately replaces the TV remote.

As David Kim, one of its inventors, explains: “People can interact while moving from room to room or running down the street. This finally takes 3D interaction outside the living room.”

Now you may ask, “What are you going to do with a wrist-mounted sensor when you’re running down the street?” This is a good question. Not sure if even anyone at Microsoft could give you a good answer. The point is that this is a device that goes with you, a virtual controller that one day could allow you to interact with any number of screens–whether it’s to control a TV or dial phone numbers or play video games.

For now, it’s a clunky thing--Steve Jobs would never have permitted the public even a glimpse of something so devoid of sleekness. But Digits is much more about function than form. It’s still a prototype, one whose focus is more about working well than looking good. Eventually, though, Microsoft hopes to be able to scale it down to something that looks and feels more like a watch.

And maybe then we’ll be able to take the bold step of losing the TV remote with forethought, and perhaps a little malice.