This week, Intugine introduced Nimble, a gesture control product that fits on the user's fingertip. The company plans to fund this project by launching an Indiegogo campaign in late August to raise an additional $100,000 for developing and mass producing the device.
The Nimble setup consists of a 3-inch long sensor that plugs into a USB port and provides 15 feet of coverage, and there are two 2cm-long Nimble "Tip" ring-shaped rechargeable devices for wearing on a finger. The company boasts that these two rings can replace the keyboard and mouse and allow users to play games, paint, write, pinch to zoom and more.
The software powering this gesture-sensing setup is the result of years of research, development and testing. It's the "soul" of the device, the company indicates, using algorithms that can keep up with multiple Nimbles all at once. The software can also store user-defined gestures that are assigned to applications, such as using an "F" to sign into Facebook.
According to the company, Nimble already works with a number of applications including Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Netflix and YouTube. The company also believes that this solution would be ideal for virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift.
"Sub-millimeter accuracy paired with incredibly low latency makes Nimble the ideal gesture control software, and the hardware expansions allow for up to eight users, which is more than any competitor," the press release said.
The "About Us" page shows that the startup company was founded by a group of young artists, engineers and researchers from India looking to make interactions with the "digital world" a bit easier. The two-year research and development aspect took place at IIT Kharagpur, which is one of India's education and research institutes.
Nimble is the latest entrant into the "hands-off" input space, which is an intriguing field that also includes the likes of Leap Motion, a company that has already penetrated the PC market to a certainextent.
Intugine is now taking pre-purchases here, although it's only for residents of India. Nimble will cost a mere $99 if the Indiegogo campaign is successful and the product does finally go retail in Q4 2014.
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