| Microsoft wowed attendees at the recent | | | | 4. The Remote control |
| Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) with its | | | | Combining keyboard technology with Infra red |
| revolutionary games control system - Project | | | | (IR) wireless communication, remote controls |
| Natal. This hardware-free, gesture-based approach | | | | have become a common feature of the digital |
| to user input is the latest attempt to evolve how | | | | home. And thanks to the popularity of TVs, DVD |
| we interact with our technology. | | | | Players, Blu-ray decks, hi-fi systems and |
| It's a far cry from the traditional interaction | | | | digiboxes, you'll probably have more than one lying |
| mechanisms of buttons, switches, dials, levers and | | | | around. It's amazing to think that the idea of a |
| knobs. Which got us thinking... what have been the | | | | remote controller is over 80 years old. In the |
| most important control systems in the history of | | | | 1930s, for example, some radio manufacturers |
| the digital home? How has our connection to | | | | offered wired 'remote controls' to operate their |
| consumer technology changed? And will | | | | more expensive models. But the first true |
| 'mind-control' ever truly work? | | | | wireless remote was probably the Philco Mystery |
| 1. The QWERTY Keyboard | | | | Control, a battery-operated radio transmitter |
| The modern-day keyboard has its origins in 1868, | | | | produced in 1939. |
| when Christopher Latham Sholes patented the | | | | 5. Mind-control |
| "type-writer". The first commercial models were | | | | Yes, mind-control. It exists today. The Neural |
| sold by the Remington Company nine years later. | | | | Impulse Actuator from OCZ has been designed |
| And despite the introduction of handwriting | | | | to add an element of 'mind control' to gaming. All |
| recognition systems, speech recognition software | | | | you do is strap on the headband and its |
| and touch-sensitive interfaces, the keyboard (and | | | | manufacturers claim that the carbon |
| keypads) remains the most efficient way to | | | | nanofibre-based sensors inside will translate your |
| quickly enter information into a device. | | | | body's electrical bio-signals into computer |
| 2. Pen-computing/handwriting recognition | | | | commands. |
| The idea of using pen-computing and handwriting | | | | 6. Gesture control - Nintendo Wii |
| recognition to control and interact with a device | | | | Before Microsoft's Project Natal came along (see |
| actually pre-dates the 'mouse'. While | | | | below), the Nintendo Wii kicked off the |
| pen-computing had its heyday in the PDA boom | | | | gesture-based gaming revolution. The Wii's |
| of the mid-1990s, the Stylator and RAND tablet | | | | motion-sensitive controllers abandoned the |
| systems were using the technology almost 30 | | | | traditional joypad and translated how players |
| years earlier. Today, pen-computing has largely | | | | moved their Wii Remotes onto the screen in |
| been sidelined by advances in touch and | | | | real-time. At this year's E3, Nintendo again showed |
| multi-touch systems. | | | | off its new MotionPlus technology for the Wii, |
| 3. The Mouse | | | | which aims to add extra precision to the existing |
| While Apple certainly popularised mouse control | | | | control system. |
| with the Apple Macintosh in 1984, the first | | | | 7. Gesture control - 'Project Natal' |
| appearance of a 'mouse' is attributed to the | | | | What the PlayStation's Eye-Toy started, Project |
| Xerox 8010 Star Information System in 1981. | | | | Natal continues. Rather than ape Nintendo's |
| Despite the fact that a PC columnist once wrote: | | | | motion-sensitive controllers, Project Natal uses a |
| "there is no evidence that people want to use | | | | combination of full body motion capture and voice |
| these things"; the mouse and its various | | | | recognition technology to translate a player's |
| alternatives (the trackball, the touchpad, the | | | | movements into onscreen action. This |
| joystick, etc.) provide the foundation for intuitive | | | | controller-free system may well revolutionise |
| 'point-and-click' control. | | | | gaming (again). |