The company Elliptic expects to have several Android models with gesture-based user interfaces available in the second half of 2014. This SDK uses ultrasound technology to create a gesture-based user interface with a number of advantages of existing touchless or hands-free interfaces. Elliptic already pioneered this type of interface with the Windows 8 in 2012.
Benefits of the Interface
The ultrasound technology uses microphones, transducers and Elliptic Labs’ software to work. This means that the phone could be placed flat on a table and still work. Ultrasonic sensors use less power than cameras and IR. Ultrasonic sensors permit 3D interaction with smartphones as well as touchless interfaces.
Another benefit of ultrasonic sensors over webcams is that they work in the dark and in low lighting situations. Ultrasonic sensors will not interfere with other types of sensors or affect nearby conversations. Ultrasound technology allows users to gesture within a 180 degree sphere of the phone, permitting more natural gestures. Ultrasonic is better than webcams because they can control the interface without standing directly in front of the phone, whereas webcam controllers have a narrow cone in which users must stand.
Ultrasound is considered superior because the user doesn’t have to be as close to the ultrasonic sensor as an infrared one. Gesture-based user interfaces like Kinect use webcams or infrared to track user motion. Most of today’s smartphones cannot handle mid-air swiping, but Elliptic’s new SDK will.
Limits of the Interface
Ultrasonic sensors are relatively immune to background noise, but they may respond incorrectly when there are nearby jets of air or hissing background noise. Ultrasonic sensors require time for the transducer to receive the returned echoes before they can send out the next pulse. While users can perform actions like mid-air swipes for a greater distance than other touchless interfaces, the device’s reaction time decreases with distance. Unlike webcams, ultrasonic sensors actually have a minimum distance. Users may not be able to use the touchless interface with their hands right in front of the phone. They also work best in areas with hard, flat surfaces. Substances like foam absorb the signals, so the ultrasonic sensor may not work well if the user is sitting on a foam couch.
Elliptic’s ultrasonic interface will give users the ability to interact with their phones over a greater distance, with more flexibility and in far more situations than existing touchless interfaces. And because Elliptic can implement this functionality with microphones and transducers, users don’t need special hardware. They will only Elliptic’s software to run the interface.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
