AirMouse: Next Generation Computer Interaction

The founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, spoke some now famous words when he stated that touchscreens will never be a good fit for regular desktop screens. They are just too oddly placed to utilize this feature no matter how you implement it. Some people disagree with him and still venture out looking for a solution that will incorporate the touch controls into our regular screens. Of course it’s highly unlikely that we will see this new breed of screens on the market, at least if you look at how it would be implemented.

Some people have said that we’re on the edge of finding new ways to interact with our computer, and that it has nothing to do with any device that is attached or otherwise connected to the gadget we are trying to control. It will simply be a kind of visual interaction that is way more accurate than the Kinect for example. What in the world could this device be and when will we get to take a look at it? Some developers are trying to answer that question by giving us a little peek into what they have developed so far.

The solution seems to come from Mad Design Labs and is pretty much based on air. Well, not exactly, but since it’s called the AirMouse, it is exactly what you think of when you first hear about it. There have been a million and one attempts to replicate the Minority Report computer interface since the movie was introduced in 2002, but few have been able to pull it off in an efficient enough way to make it a long term solution.

The world is in desperate need of a new solution so that we can once and for all get rid of the mouse, the one gadget that has injured more people than American football probably has. The AirMouse was first introduced back in 2010, but it has just recently gotten some traction. It’s basically a glove that you put on which interacts with the computer and enables you to move and work just like you usually would with a mouse, but in mid air. This solution is way less likely to strain your wrists, so it is a better choice for many people who haven’t been able to use a computer since they were injured. Is this the future of computer interaction? Well, I guess that is all up to us users to decide. What do you think?