Hrvoje Benko a researcher on adaptive systems and interaction at Microsoft research is developing ways of including more gestures into the traditional touch lexicon. His project, called Rock & Rails, aims to take things beyond the current “poke to click†paradigm. His work is to be presented this week at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Vancouver, Canada.
The video shows the technique being demonstrated on a new version of Microsoft’s Surface platform. Right now “Rock and Rails” only includes support for three gestures: a fist, which holds things down; a straight hand, which sets a line to which UI elements can move perpendicular; and a “curved rail,” which sets a pivot point.