Seemingly ripped straight from the scenes of the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report, new technology from Oblong Industries promises to deliver what science fiction fans have dreamt of for years – a way to interact with computers through gestures alone! The new system – known as the G-Speak - works almost exactly like the giant projected displays Tom used in Minority Reportto track down would-be murderers based on the info provided by a clairvoyant dreamer played by Samantha Morton. It’s no surprise, as the technology blog GearLog reports one of Oblong’s founders was a technical advisor on the Steven Spielberg film!
Now that’s life imitating art! The real life version of the G-Speak - designed by former MIT scientists – even uses the special gloves Tom donned in the film to interact with all kinds of awesome visual information. This user interface is different from nearly all others on the market as it doesn’t require a user to touch anything at all. You would basically be ‘conducting’ the info on the screens all around you!
For fans of Tom’s with less tech knowledge, here’s a quick breakdown about interfaces. A user interface is basically any means a person employs to use a computer. Traditional user interfaces include your trusty keyboard and mouse. There have been some specialty interfaces throughout the years that caught on with specific users. Think graphics tablets and pens for designers.
Some older interfaces seemed like good ideas, but in practical use fell short and wound up in the garbage can of history. Nintendo basically cornered the market on these novelty interfaces, including the forerunner to gesture technology with the Power Glove, their slow-moving R.O.B. the Robot and the ’3-D’ experience of the Virtual Boy. But don’t be too hard on Nintendo, all these stepping stones led to possibly the most successful new interface in years with the Wii 
Some of the new touchscreen and touchpad interfaces for phones and laptops have expanded the world of interfaces beyond computers or video games. Some of the magic of the newest devices comes from these interfaces making information easier to access, consume and use.
However, the G-Speak technology moves past touching a screen altogether! It comes closest as the folks at GearLog put it, to “providing a true TCIMRE (Tom Cruise in Minority Report Experience).”
What do you think about more Minority Report technology making it into real life? Would you ditch your mouse and keyboard for it? Does a touchscreen phone still look awesome in comparison!? Let us know in the comments section below.
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