I wrote a piece a while ago about how ambient interfaces were the next step in digital - being able to control computers without the rather awkward encumbrance of a keyboard and mouse. And lo and behold, the world has gone ambient interface crazy.

The Wii remote, multi-touch screens, the iPhone - these are all devices that use your body in a much more natural way to interact with devices. They are somehow more human.

Here’s a list of some other, more recent examples:

Multi-Touch Interactive Wall

Motion Controlled Mobile Gaming

GestureTek recently won Mobile Overall Winner at GSMA 2008 Mobile Innovation Global Awards. Their tech uses the camera on the back of the phone to allow the it to sense when it’s moving. This makes for really interesting gameplay where you can “roll” a marble round a maze and that kind of thing. They say they have a dozen or so games developers working with their tech at the moment.

Crazy Headset That Reads Your Mind

From Emotiv Systems, a headset which reads your brainwaves and then controls an on-screen avatar. It even can sense if you’re smiling or not. Completely mental. (Can’t wait for the day when I can read my boss’s mind as easily)

Nokia’s Body Sensitive Screen

Nokia recently announced that they will be supporting touch sensitive screens, which will include “haptic” feedback (in other words when you touch the screen you also get feedback, whether that’s a noise or a vibration).

Tags: ambient interface, ambient interfaces, emotiv, gesturetek, interface, interfaces, iPhone, nokia, wii