By Sebastian Anthony, Extreme Tech
Not one to be outdone by Disney’s any-surface touch interface, Microsoft Research, working with the University of Washington, has developed a Kinect-like system that uses your computer’s built-in microphone and speakers to provide object detection and gesture recognition, much in the same way that a submarine uses sonar. Called SoundWave, the new technology uses the Doppler effect to detect any movements and gestures in the proximity of a computer. The Doppler effect, if you remember high school physics, is where the frequency of a sound alters depending on your distance from it — the Doppler effect describes the change of a police car siren’s pitch as it moves towards you and then recedes into the distance. In the case of SoundWave, your computer’s built-in speaker is used to emit ultrasonic (18-22KHz) sound waves, which change frequency depending on where your hand (or body) is in relation to the computer.
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