Microsoft develops new keyboard readable user gestures

Microsoft develops new keyboards: can read user gestures Microsoft's research and Development department has developed a keyboard that can read basic gestures, which will help reduce the difference between touch-screen devices and traditional input methods. At the computer interactive conference in Toronto, Microsoft demonstrated the prototype of the keyboard. The keyboard integrates 64 sensors to detect the movement of the fingers above the keyboard. For example, sweeping from the left or right side of the keyboard can call out the left and right sidebar menus of Windows 8. Stuart Thelles Stuart Taylor, a senior research engineer at Microsoft, said the main purpose of the keyboard was to use the palm of the hand close to the keyboard, regardless of whether the user was typing or using gestures. Currently, some gestures can be modeled using keyboard keys, such as switching between different applications using the ALT + TAB key combination. "We've found that for some of the more complex keyboard shortcuts, gestures are more intuitive to the user," he says. At present, the touch-screen gesture control is very common for browsing photos and calling out menus. Some mice can now express gestures, but the keyboard is still a traditional input device. Ms Taylor said Microsoft's keyboard was capable of expressing a variety of gestures, but at the conference Microsoft demonstrated only a few. He also said the keyboard was not designed to replace the mouse. This does not apply to subtle operations, which still require the use of a mouse or touchpad. Microsoft has been working on this project for 1.5 time and will continue to improve the technology. The integrated sensors in the keyboard are used in pairs: one sensor emits infrared light, while the other reads the reflection of infrared light. This is similar to Microsoft's Kinect body sense control technology. Since this is only a research project, the keyboard will not be commercially available for a short time. But such technologies will give Microsoft an edge in future computing competition. (D-Gold)