When Minority Report hit movie theatres in 2002, the idea of a gesture-based user interface seemed pretty out there. Well, four years later, the technology is very real, and actually more advanced than what Tom Cruise was doing. The system developed by GoMonkey of Austria does Hollywood one better, by not requiring users to put on a pair of gloves like everyone’s now favourite Scientology poster boy.

Two cameras are mounted around a huge rear projection screen. The gestures of users are captured in 3 dimensions, allowing them to navigate through menus using “natural hand movements.” Among the technology involved is “Looking Glass”, the Sun Java 3D UI. Right now, the applications being employed include sales presentations, interactive advertisement, and events.

GoMonkey is saying that their gesture-based user interface can be customized for a wide range of specific solutions, and my guess is that it’s only a matter of time before the keyboard beneath my figures becomes completely obsolete. According to I4U News, you can see the tech in action “in the 3Sat Neues TV show video stream.” Click on Web-TV on the right, and the GoMonkey segment starts at 20:50.