Exceet Electronics GmbH claims to have developed a way to implement gesture control, without using cameras. The system is based on electronic field lines, and their modification through gestures. It can be installed in ‘low-cost’ devices of all types.
Camera-based gesture control is relatively expensive and sensitive. It also generates and needs to process a high amount of data. The company told us that its system, on the other hand, only requires a small printed circuit board, with four tracks on each side. The tracks on one side act as a transmitter antenna, generating the field lines; the tracks on the other side act as a receiver antenna, detecting the field lines and their changes.
The PCB recognises motion as a gesture, which serves as an input signal for the controller. The field lines are changed in different ways depending on the gesture; these changes are transmitted to the control device as a signal. Only changed lines are registered, so the control is not affected by ‘random’ elements such as water droplets or dirt particles on the control panel – making the system suitable for use in industrial environments.
Exceet is able to enclose the system in various materials, such as glass, wood or metal. It can be applied to any device using I2C or USB, although there is a size limit: 60mm² minimum and 150mm² maximum, although the size depends on the material of the PCB and the structure of the track.
Analyst Comments
This sounds like the control system concept of a Theremin – a musical instrument that responded to the way that the hand is waved in the field around an antenna! Famously, the Theremin provided the synthesiser-like sound on Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. (BR)
