Gesture-controlled TVs showcased by Toshiba and Hitachi

I’m pretty sure most of us are quite content with bashing the power button whenever we want to switch on our televisions. But how about waving hello to it? Both Hitachi and Toshiba are demonstrating motion sensing televisions at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show and say they could be on the market in as soon as two years.

Both sets work through infrared sensors which are placed near the screen that monitor a user’s hand movements and convert them into commands for controlling the TV. This setup feels like the one used for the motion controls in the Nintendo Wii. This allows the user to turn on and off the TV with a wave, change channels by moving their hands from side-to-side and control volume by moving their hands in a circular motion.

The Toshiba TV, on the other hand, employs three-dimensional hand gestures to allow users to navigate recorded video content. You can zoom in or out from a screen full of video clips by bring your hands closer together or further apart, start it with a gesture and then fast forward or reverse through the clip with side-to-side movements.

Toshiba said it was looking into the technology for possible use on its Cell TV, a TV set based on the powerful Cell processor. The TV is due on the market in Japan this year but the technology won’t necessarily be in the first model.

Now, we’ll all just have to wait and see what this new concept entails. It would be fun to watch the whole family waving and throwing their hands up in the air trying to change the channel, especially if each member want to watch different shows.