Microsoft gets handy with wrist-mounted Digits system

Real hand gestures (bottom row) and their Digits representations.

(Credit: Microsoft )

From Kinect to Windows 8, Microsoft has fingered gesture recognition as the future of the user interface.

Now Microsoft researchers are aiming to improve the accuracy and mobility of gesture-controlled interfaces with a new project called Digits.

The prototype system, unveiled today, involves a sensor worn on the user's wrist, which captures the position of their hand in 3D and translates it into software commands.

The system allows discrete or continuous gestures to be used to navigate software — for example, a pinching gesture is translated to zooming in on a document. The human hand controlling Digits can also be shown as onscreen representation where needed.

The researchers were looking to achieve a system that recognised natural 3D gestures made by users' hands with a high level of accuracy, but wouldn't necessitate wearing "data gloves," according to Microsoft Research.

By making the system wrist mounted, there's no need for a line-of-sight connection with the hardware that it's controlling.

"The Digits sensor doesn't rely on external infrastructure, which means users ar... [Read more]