Write in the Air

It is great fun to write in the air with your fingers dancing around, but imagine if doing just that you could actually communicate with electronic devices? That is exactly what the scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are hoping to do when their science project ends.

What they call “air writing” will use a glove to record the movements made by the hand. This data will then be translated by the computer to which the glove communicates into legible text and symbols. The result will be a new interface type being produced in wearable computer applications allowing greater integration of computer in life.

The hands will become virtual keyboards that can write out instructions to computers and work with other technology driven gadgets. Not all the movements are interpreted as writing by the system which remains on in the background. During writing, the airwriting system decodes the letters by a pattern recognition method. It also takes into account individual differences in the writing style.

Soon it will be possible to write a text message on your smart phone without touching it, or even guide yourself using a GPS without fiddling with maps on the screen. The possibilities of the resulting gadgets from this science project are endless.