Audio Video News

The unique Xperia Touch mini projector Sony introduced to the U.S. market last fall is getting an upgrade.

The $1,700 short-throw projector, which turns any surface it projects video onto into an interactive touch “screen,” can now be controlled using physical gestures thanks to technology developed by Israeli startup eyeSight Technologies, which uses a camera built into the projector to facilitate motion control.

Raise your hand and the projector goes into gesture-control mode enabling you to use simple swipes and finger “clicks” to navigate menus, manipulate the interface, and control video. You can even mute the sound by holding your finger to your lips.

“Our computer vision AI is more than just a gesture control solution,” said Gideon Shmuel, CEO of eyeSight Technologies, noting that the company is a proponent of combining more than one interaction method to deliver experiences that are as close as possible to human-to-human interaction. The Xperia Touch has three modes of control: touch, gesture with awareness, and voice. “The technology provides devices with an intelligent-seeing capability that enables it to react to our presence and even create personalized experiences by identifying who we are.”

Other features of the projector include a presence sensor that wakes it up when you approach it, a keystone setting to compensate for surfaces that aren’t perfectly flat, a manual focus setting for making adjustments to keep images sharp and clear, support for ALAC and FLAC audio files, and ClearAudio+ processing that automatically “optimizes” sound settings.

For more information on the Xperia Touch, visit sonymobile.com. For more information on eyeSight Technologies, visit eyesight-tech.com.

The Xperia touch is available through Amazon.

See the Xperia Touch in action: