4 ms·

Soli uses radar, so the scale of minority report is achievable. It's just that the target use case with soli is geared towards gesturing at your mobile device.

teddyh 8y ago
I’ve no idea what your argument is. My point is that a “Minority Report interface”, which you specifically wanted, is hampered by the “gorilla arm” problem. You pointed to the Google Soli thing, but that does not (from what I can tell) seem to solve the gorilla arm problem either, and even if it did, a “Minority Report interface” would still have the gorilla arm problem.
- melling 8y ago
  I guess I should have simply said gesture UI. Of course, I'd like eye-tracking and voice UI too. I simply said "Minority Report interface" to help people visualize the idea. How about Iron Man's Jarvis? Would you have had a silly little rant over that too? [Update] Jarvis video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7RCJvoCMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7RCJvoCMc
  - teddyh 8y ago
    > I guess I should have simply said gesture UI. I would think that it’s hard to do those without the gorilla arm problem, since I haven’t seen any without it. If you have, please elaborate. > Of course, I'd like eye-tracking and voice UI too. Sure, those are no problem for the arms. But, IIRC, people whose job it is to talk all day have been shown to have a higher rate of vocal cord cancer. But, sure, that’s a different problem. > How about Iron Man's Jarvis? The movies (of which your linked clip is a representative sample) essentially show a Minority Report-style interface with a holographic display instead of a large flat display. Nothing about the gestures themselves changes, so from what I can tell, it, too, would have the gorilla arm problem if it were to be used for any length of time. > Would you have had a silly little rant over that too? I really don’t think anything I wrote deserved that jab.
    - melling 8y ago
      So, with the voice UI, eye-tracking, and lots of subtle Soli gestures (https://atap.google.com/soli/ https://atap.google.com/soli/), think I could work for 20-30 minutes? -->"But, IIRC, people whose job it is to talk all day have been shown to have a higher rate of vocal cord cancer." Because nowhere did I say how long I wanted to work. For some reason you're taking your lack of imagination and trying to extrapolate it into an all day affair where I'm holding up my arms. Btw, I wouldn't mind that holographic display either but I'm willing to settle for an 8k display for now. After 17 years, and zero "Minority Report" gestures, I've learned that these things take time.
      - teddyh 8y ago
        > think I could work for 20-30 minutes? Barely, maybe. Gesturing with your arms for that long is hard work. I don’t know what the practical limits would be, but even lecturers who hold long speeches with lots of gestures rest their arms on the podium for a reason, and can continue speaking while resting their arms. > you're taking your lack of imagination and trying to extrapolate it into an all day affair On the contrary, you’re taking my writing “for any length of time”, and somehow assuming I meant “all day”. Which I didn’t mean. I only used the phrase “all day” in an unrelated aside about voice interfaces, and only then while referring to a study which (IIRC) specifically was about people who talked all day. But this was unrelated to gesture interfaces, which is why I did not follow this line of inquiry. My point is that gesture interfaces are very hard work to use for longer periods of time (I’m unsure of the exact number), and if they can only be used for shorter periods, are they worth the hassle to learn? If you have work you need to do which takes longer than your arms can handle, you need an alternate interface anyway, (presumably some keyboard/mouse variation which have proven themselves to be reasonably effective) and if you already have that, why do you want to have to learn the gesture one? This assumes, of course, that no gesture interface can solve the gorilla arm problem. But there might be one. Case in point: iPads were successful in avoiding the gorilla arm problem even though they are touch interfaces which the “gorilla arm” phrase originally refers to, and iPads avoid the problem by being small enough that people can use one while holding their arms in their lap – essentially while mostly resting their arms. There might be some solution to gesture interfaces which I’ve not yet seen. > your lack of imagination That’s twice you’ve now insulted me without provocation. Are you upset about the fact that I question the premise on which gesture-based interfaces are based?
- bduerst 8y ago
  I think you have confused me with someone else. My point is that the tech for minority report exists today (soli, leap, etc.) but the demand for novel mobile device interfaces is stronger than some waving-your-arms interface at a giant desk full of monitors.
  - teddyh 8y ago
    > I think you have confused me with someone else. Yes; I’m sorry. I did not see that you were not “melling”, the GP poster. I’m still confused about what your point is. If you simply meant that Soli, etc. might not have the gorilla arm problem, then I am open to the idea, but remain somewhat skeptical. It might work for using a handheld device for a few seconds, but what I’m worried about, and what the GP wanted, was “a nice large wall size screen”, and in that context, doing real work for extended periods, I remain doubtful.

teddyh 8y ago

I’ve no idea what your argument is. My point is that a “Minority Report interface”, which you specifically wanted, is hampered by the “gorilla arm” problem. You pointed to the Google Soli thing, but that does not (from what I can tell) seem to solve the gorilla arm problem either, and even if it did, a “Minority Report interface” would still have the gorilla arm problem.

melling 8y ago
I guess I should have simply said gesture UI. Of course, I'd like eye-tracking and voice UI too. I simply said "Minority Report interface" to help people visualize the idea. How about Iron Man's Jarvis? Would you have had a silly little rant over that too? [Update] Jarvis video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7RCJvoCMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7RCJvoCMc
- teddyh 8y ago
  > I guess I should have simply said gesture UI. I would think that it’s hard to do those without the gorilla arm problem, since I haven’t seen any without it. If you have, please elaborate. > Of course, I'd like eye-tracking and voice UI too. Sure, those are no problem for the arms. But, IIRC, people whose job it is to talk all day have been shown to have a higher rate of vocal cord cancer. But, sure, that’s a different problem. > How about Iron Man's Jarvis? The movies (of which your linked clip is a representative sample) essentially show a Minority Report-style interface with a holographic display instead of a large flat display. Nothing about the gestures themselves changes, so from what I can tell, it, too, would have the gorilla arm problem if it were to be used for any length of time. > Would you have had a silly little rant over that too? I really don’t think anything I wrote deserved that jab.
  - melling 8y ago
    So, with the voice UI, eye-tracking, and lots of subtle Soli gestures (https://atap.google.com/soli/ https://atap.google.com/soli/), think I could work for 20-30 minutes? -->"But, IIRC, people whose job it is to talk all day have been shown to have a higher rate of vocal cord cancer." Because nowhere did I say how long I wanted to work. For some reason you're taking your lack of imagination and trying to extrapolate it into an all day affair where I'm holding up my arms. Btw, I wouldn't mind that holographic display either but I'm willing to settle for an 8k display for now. After 17 years, and zero "Minority Report" gestures, I've learned that these things take time.
    - teddyh 8y ago
      > think I could work for 20-30 minutes? Barely, maybe. Gesturing with your arms for that long is hard work. I don’t know what the practical limits would be, but even lecturers who hold long speeches with lots of gestures rest their arms on the podium for a reason, and can continue speaking while resting their arms. > you're taking your lack of imagination and trying to extrapolate it into an all day affair On the contrary, you’re taking my writing “for any length of time”, and somehow assuming I meant “all day”. Which I didn’t mean. I only used the phrase “all day” in an unrelated aside about voice interfaces, and only then while referring to a study which (IIRC) specifically was about people who talked all day. But this was unrelated to gesture interfaces, which is why I did not follow this line of inquiry. My point is that gesture interfaces are very hard work to use for longer periods of time (I’m unsure of the exact number), and if they can only be used for shorter periods, are they worth the hassle to learn? If you have work you need to do which takes longer than your arms can handle, you need an alternate interface anyway, (presumably some keyboard/mouse variation which have proven themselves to be reasonably effective) and if you already have that, why do you want to have to learn the gesture one? This assumes, of course, that no gesture interface can solve the gorilla arm problem. But there might be one. Case in point: iPads were successful in avoiding the gorilla arm problem even though they are touch interfaces which the “gorilla arm” phrase originally refers to, and iPads avoid the problem by being small enough that people can use one while holding their arms in their lap – essentially while mostly resting their arms. There might be some solution to gesture interfaces which I’ve not yet seen. > your lack of imagination That’s twice you’ve now insulted me without provocation. Are you upset about the fact that I question the premise on which gesture-based interfaces are based?
bduerst 8y ago
I think you have confused me with someone else. My point is that the tech for minority report exists today (soli, leap, etc.) but the demand for novel mobile device interfaces is stronger than some waving-your-arms interface at a giant desk full of monitors.
- teddyh 8y ago
  > I think you have confused me with someone else. Yes; I’m sorry. I did not see that you were not “melling”, the GP poster. I’m still confused about what your point is. If you simply meant that Soli, etc. might not have the gorilla arm problem, then I am open to the idea, but remain somewhat skeptical. It might work for using a handheld device for a few seconds, but what I’m worried about, and what the GP wanted, was “a nice large wall size screen”, and in that context, doing real work for extended periods, I remain doubtful.