Gesturetek Screen Xtreme Upgrade
Gesturetek, makers of some of the coolest gesture-based interactive displays and software products, recently announced an interesting upgrade to their Screen Xtreme product. Screen Xtreme is a compelling digital signage product that allows the user to interact with the sign simply by passing in front of it. A camera picks up their motion and converts it to a variety of effects and controls. Users can point or wave to control the experience. Often times this experience involves “playing” with a sponsor brand. In one example for the Venus Razor, the screen is filled with colorful flowers, and when the user waves their arm, the flowers scatter as if the user created a virtual breeze. In other examples, the arm wave causes a page flip to additional content. Since the sign can react to someone who merely walks by, it can attract attention far more effectively than a simple video screen or static sign.
The announcement states that their Screen Xtreme system now supports a variety of standard Active X controls, which allows the software to run in coordination with standard digital signage software. Using this approach, retailers and exhibit marketers can produce an informational digital sign that features a highly interactive portion, rather than dedicating the entire sign to the interactive element. That way, the interactive eye-catching part can be the sponsor or big promotional area that pays for the sign, while the rest can be utility information that provides value to the viewer. Everybody wins that way.
In the picture above, which I grabbed from the video on their site, you can see a typical digital sign with a variety of content on the lef side and bottom. The large image shows the President of Gesturetek interacting with the Venus brand by moving his body and arm in front of the camera. Notice how the primary brand image in the lower right is in front of the rest of the interactive, so he can’t mess that part up. This layering effect is a nice bonus so you can be sure to have a sponsor’s logo present at all times.
In fact, the layering capability is core to most of their effects. In many cases, a wave of a hand pushes an array of virtual objects around on the screen, temporarily revealing an image behind them. Eventually the objects manage to flow back onto the screen to once again cover the image. It is that sense of interaction and discovery that makes these types of displays fun and engaging. Now that they can pair up with more traditional signage apps, they just got a whole lot more practical
For more information:
Gesturetek Press Release
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November 11th, 2007 at 3:21 am
Actually, the coolest interactive application i ever came across belongs to a company called http://www.eyeclick.com
they work with interactive projected images, on every surface -floor/walls/windows/tables and i’v even seen a projection on sand-that was pretty amazing. they have multitouch screens that allow users to interact with the content with their hands serving as a mouse and the effect is mind blowing. you should check them out
November 12th, 2007 at 12:24 am
Very interesting. I will definitely check them out. Thanks!
November 12th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
“GestureTek’s EyeMobile engine has several advantages to accelerometers for gesture-based mobile games and applications. It offers both maxi and mini control, plus far more versatility and functionality in gesture-control. NTT DoCoMo in Japan uses GestureTek’s video gesture control technology to give people a mobile gaming experience that’s closer to the real thing. For example, people can swing their phones like they’re rolling a bowling ball in the Bowling Game, or dance around the ring taking punches at their opponent in the Boxing Game. Accelerometers can’t do that.”
November 12th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
GestureTek at http://www.gesturetek.com has some of the coolest, award-winning gesture-controlled technologies. GestureTek is the pioneer and world leader in interactive visual display, presentation and entertainment systems on floors, walls, windows, tables, countertops, bar tops, even mobile phones. Some of the company’s most interesting projects include creating the world’s largest multi-touch surface computing table for an Australian building, bringing a turnkey portable multi-touch surface computing table to market before the technology was even popular, building one of the world’s largest interactive retail signage systems for a mall in Ireland, and creating a portable ‘immersive experience’ gaming system called FunCam that requires no green screens. Users can enjoy a ‘Wii-like” experience without having to wear, hold or touch anything, so it can be set up in virtually any public location, such as a store, tourist attraction, bar, restaurant, museum, or a science centre.
November 12th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
GestureTek at http://www.gesturetek.com has some of the coolest, award-winning gesture-controlled technologies. GestureTek is the pioneer and world leader in interactive visual display, presentation and entertainment systems on floors, walls, windows, tables, countertops, bar tops, even mobile phones. Some of the company’s most interesting projects include creating the world’s largest multi-touch surface computing table for an Australian building, bringing a turnkey portable multi-touch surface computing table to market before the technology was even popular, building one of the world’s largest interactive retail signage systems for a mall in Ireland, and creating a portable ‘immersive experience’ gaming system called FunCam that requires no green screens. Users can enjoy a ‘Wii-like” experience without having to wear, hold or touch anything, so it can be set up in virtually any public location, such as a store, tourist attraction, bar, restaurant, museum, or a science centre.