Soon, control TV by waving hand!

With a simple wave of hand, you will be able to change television channels or turn the volume up or down, thanks to researchers who have developed a 3-D gesture recognition system.

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Softkinetic, a Brussels-based software company, and Texas Instruments have teamed up to make a system that would make touchscreens history.

With a simple wave of hand, people will be able to change television channels or turn the volume up or down.

In video games, your movements will control your onscreen digital avatar.

'On the consumer side you have three markets -- television, video games and personal computers,' Discovery News quoted Softkinetic chief executive Michel Tombroff as saying.

'The objective is to be on the consumer market at the end of next year, by Christmas, so people can buy these things,' he said.

'In the same way that the Nintendo Wii completely changed the way that people play video games this 3-D camera technology will allow us to completely transform the way people interact with television,' Tombroff added.

According to Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, gesture recognition technology is 'directionally correct because anything leading to a more natural interface for a human is better.

'We''re in that transition to a time when gestural input will be quite natural. From what I''ve seen of the demos they''re pretty close,' Kay added.

However in video games, 'using a camera in real time to capture motion and then take the representative avatar from that and play it on a screen with other elements in a virtual world is a pretty compelling experience,' he added.

Tombroff said Softkinetic''s gesture recognition system includes a 3-D camera that 'looks like a little webcam' and is mounted on top of a television set or computer monitor.

'It looks at the scene and it can analyze gestures without you holding anything in your hand or wearing any special equipment. It''s really the ultimate gesture-based solution,' he said.

Tombroff said the technology has the capability of transforming television.

'It will become an active component of the living room. It''s not just about sitting in the living room, turning it on and watching,' he said.

'It''s about interacting. The TV will recognize you. If you step in front of it, the camera will recognize it''s you,' he added.