To make the operation of cell phones more convenient, Siemens engineers have developed a virtual mouse and a completely new type of 3D touch-screen display.
Cell phone owners can use the virtual mouse to navigate through the phone’s menu with simple hand movements. The touch-screen display also reacts to finger pointing. Both devices will be presented at this year’s CeBIT trade fair (March 12–19 in Hanover, Germany).
The virtual mouse has been installed in a cell phone with a camera in its back. This camera sends the images it records directly to the phone’s large-format colour display. When the user holds a normal pen about 30 centimetres in front of the camera, the system registers the tip of the pen as a mouse pointer. A red point then appears at the tip on the display. The user can move the pen, and thus the point, around the display in order to dial numbers, send SMS texts, or even draw or play games.
To help users get acquainted with the system, the developers also programmed a simple game, whereby the user must touch the image of a falling devil with the red point, thereby turning it into an angel, which then rises up the display. Playing the game requires the user to move the pen in front of the camera correctly. MF
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