A GESTURE BASED APPROACH TO HUMAN/COMPUTER COMMUNICATION

THE AVAILABILITY OF CHEAP AND POWERFUL MICROCOMPUTERS HAS LEAD TO GREAT ANTICIPATION OF SWEEPING CHANGES IN BUSINESS, EDUCATION, THE PROFESSIONS AND THE HOME. DESPITE FALLING PRICES AND GREATER COMPUTING POWER, THE IMPACT IN THESE AREAS HAS LARGELY BEEN CONFINED TO BUSINESS AND CLERICAL APPLICATIONS. WHY? A PRIMARY REASON IS THE DIFFICULTY PEOPLE ENCOUNTER IN INTERACTING/COMMUNICATING WITH THE COMPUTER. MOST COMMUNICATION RELIES ON THE USE OF TYPEWRITER-LIKE KEYBOARDS. THIS CARRIES TWO LIABILITIES: THE NEED OF THE SPECIAL MOTOR SKILL OF TYPING, AND THE RESTRICTION OF COMMUNICATION TO THE PRODUCTION OF SEQUENCES OF SYMBOLS REPRESENTING WORDS OF SOME LANGUAGE. ALTHOUGH ALTERNATE METHODS OF INTERACTIVE INPUT HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF STUDY OF MANY YEARS, CURRENT SOLUTIONS ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE STILL UNSATIFACTORY. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS FOR A NEW INTERACTIVE INPUT DEVICE AND CONCOMITANT COMMAND SET OF PHYSICAL GESTURES. THESE ACTIONS HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THEIR CONSIDERABLY GREATER INTUITIVENESS AND FOR THEIR POWER OF COMMUNICATION. THIS PROPOSAL REQUESTS SUPPORT FOR DESIGNING AN APPROPRIATE PROTOTYPE DEVICE, FOR SIMULATING ITS PERFORMANCE, AND FOR PRELIMINARY HUMAN PERFORMANCE STUDIES.