Elliptic Labs promises IoT device control with the wave of a hand. (Image courtesy of Elliptic Labs.)
The technology uses ultrasonic presence-detection to pick up on hand gestures. Once a presence is detected, the device pulls itself into an active mode where it will listen for movement. Based on different hand signals, the IoT device will perform a different action.
Elliptic Labs report that classic IoT devices including lamps, smoke detectors and wireless speakers can all be improved with hand gesture motions.
“By working closely with mobile OEMs and their IoT innovation departments, we enable consumers to easily connect, control and interact with IoT devices," explained Laila Danielsen, CEO of Elliptic Labs. "Ultrasound is such a versatile yet robust technology that creating solutions for home use, as we are demoing today, is just the beginning.”
Though science fiction films like Minority Report and Iron Man might make the operation of equipment with hand gestures look practical, reality doesn’t always mimic fantasy. If you want a good lesson, take a look at the videogame industry—it had a miniboom of optical or infrared gesture-based devices with the Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move.
Though these devices did draw in a large sum of casual gamers, the clunky controls eventually proved that the technology was unsustainable as a product. Why? Because the hardcore gaming market found the controls didn’t offer the precision they needed and the casual market dropped out when the novelty of their new toy passed into memory. They were just not that user-friendly.
The major frustration with gesture-based control is a familiar technological issue: it never picks up commands when you want it to and it always does when you don’t want it to. In other words, the technology is plagued with false positives and false negatives as the sensors struggle to pick up gestures and the device’s “intelligence” struggles to interpret them.
One benefit Elliptic notes about ultrasonic detection technology over other gesture detection devices, like optical or infrared, is that it can detect all around the device. In other words, you don’t have to be standing right in front of your IoT platform. However, this only makes the detection of a false positive more likely.
Now, if this is annoying while playing a video game, imagine how it would be with a smoke alarm, an application Elliptic suggests users implement with their technology.
Picture this. The smoke alarm is going off. You’re breathing in the fumes and starting to panic. What’s the first thing you do? You wave your hands to get the smoke out of your face. However, your IoT device doesn’t understand the context of your hand waving. As a result, the detector picks up a false positive “all clear” signal and now your help is no longer on the way.
These are not the reports anyone wants to get when a customer returns a product. Until it’s proven that these devices can identify context and truly understand hand gestures, avoid your no trouble found returns or even class-action lawsuits. Stop designing gesture controls into your IoT device.