I see that the Beeb is reporting on new touchless smartphones and TVs. Quite aside from the way it reminds me of the starship Heart of Gold's excitingly chunky control cabin and the risk of flying electric pencils, and the undoubted benefits of being able to answer a phone or mute a TV with a single gesture, the article seems to have forgotten about the increasingly determined inability of people to multitask in complex activities.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15970019
"Using a GPS device without touching it while driving could be safer."
"the existing prototypes include ... a GPS device that can be controlled touchlessly while driving."
"Imagine that you are driving a car and your child is on the back seat watching a movie on a tablet - you don't have to divert your attention from the road, but just by making a gesture near the tablet you would be able to pause it or turn it off." [no, just divert your concentration]
"...how about answering a phone when you're cooking, eating or driving without touching the screen or even having to look at it?"
Aside from the fact that I don't do much driving anyway, and don't have a hands-free kit for my phone, and wouldn't like to use it even if I had one, I'm a bit fed up that 'we' are still talking about driving being this simple task that only requires muscle memory, while the mind is free to think about what to make for dinner and when's best to make dentist appointments for the children and what should be on the next agenda of those boring Health and Safety meetings at work.
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