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Hitachi launched a high-end TV panel working with the Canesta 3D sensor, which allows viewers interact with the TV controls via hand gestures.
While the TV displays 3D images you can wave your hand to power up the TV or move your hand circularly to change the channel.
This is not a concept but a cool prototype that will be available soon on the market as a real product.
It is showcased at the Customer Electronics Show 2009, where visitors can test it live.



Canesta’s 3D sensor is immune to lighting extremes and works in any environment, whether it is indoors or outdoors, with the condition that you have to be within the 3-meter working range. It also distinguished between one hand and two hands and offers multiple commands depending on your hand’s motion.

How this works:
As you move your hands, the 3D sensor developed with CMOS chip technology sends a stream of 3D data at 30 frames per second to the TVs micro-controller, where the gesture-recognition software translates the depth maps into gestures and then into commands.

“The touchless, gesture-based interface is one of the most exciting projects that the Hitachi Consumer Business Group has worked on in some time,” said Hiroyuki Mizukami, chief technology officer of that group and general manager of the Hitachi, Consumer Electronics Laboratory. “Consumers have shown a growing preference for the multi-touch, gestural interface pioneered by the iPhone®, but that is only appropriate for small devices in your hand or embedded in a surface. For control of entertainment devices across the room, such as a television or multi-media center, the next logical step is gestures in open air.”