While touchscreens have been buzzing lately with the launch of new tablets and smartphones, the primary way we control our computers is still via a keyboard and mouse, but an Ubunutu prototype user interface hopes to add facial recognition to the mix to make it easier for users to navigate through the menus and windows on their computer. By utilizing existing hardware–primarily a webcam on the computer–designer Christian Giordano hopes to add software to help users control their computer; for instance, if a user leans backward while watching a movie, the camera will sense that and prompt the system to play videos in fullscreen. Other aspects of the UI include notifications that may pop on and use the entire screen real estate if the computer senses that the user had walked away or is located further away from the system. There’s no indication when the UI will be made public, but it’s a cool start.
Parallax and fullscreen interaction via webcam from Canonical Design on Vimeo.