Designers Are Ditching The Mouse For The “Flow” 3D Motion Touch Controller
[Phil Lelyveld comment: This little device has 4 ways to control cursors and the internet of things (turn, touch, swipe, press). It requires learning a new gestural language. They hope to replace the mouse and gesture interfaces. But it reminds me of those infomercials for contracting hoses - oh the knots, the tripping, that heavy hose. What's a person to do? All you have to do is increase the sensitivity of your mouse and you can skip this device.]
That’s why Flow is built to work with Spotify, YouTube and SoundCloud. You could hover your hand above Flow to adjust volume, or wave over it to skip to the next song without disconnecting from your friends or the task at hand to stare into a screen. Phillips Hue smart lightbulbs can also be controlled much quicker with Flow than digging up the remote app on your phone.
I’ve played with Flow and the device is well-constructed. The tension on the spinning cylinder gives just the right resistance so you can feel the slightest movement. It combines motion with less tiring gestures rather than just tiringly keeping your hands in the air, which is why Leap Motion never took off. Integrating Flow into your habits will take time, and not everyone has a professional need for it.
“We want to create a new generation of natural user interfaces,” says Eichenwald. With hardware costs, connectivity, and Wi-Fi chips all getting cheaper, anything could be turned into an input. Eichenwald asks “Why not the table? Why not the wall? Why not the objects around you?”
See the full story here: http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/29/pixel-perfect/?ncid=tcdaily