Our homes will get a lot smarter in the coming years, allowing us to use a smartphone to manage an integrated system of appliances and other electronics from any room—a kind of universal remote control for the “Internet of things.” An even easier, more intuitive approach, however, would allow us to flip through TV channels or turn on the coffeemaker with a simple hand wave.
A team of University of Washington (U.W.) computer scientists is developing just such a system (pdf). Dubbed “WiSee,” the system uses a modified wireless router to receive and identify slight disturbances in wi-fi signals that permeate living spaces. Software algorithms interpret the hand or body gestures that create those disturbances and translate the movements into commands for controlling specific wireless devices.
To read the original article: Wave of the Future: Manage Your Smart Home with a Single Gesture: Scientific American
