Conceptual gesture-based light switch

In a world of knobs, buttons and switches, this gesture-based light switch seems like a major evolution: it can control multiple lights at once, with a flick of the finger shutting them on and off, while a circular motion dims. It doesn't say if an insistent tapping would initiate rave mode, though. Alas, it's only a concept for now, but I suspect we'll see these for real sooner or later.

User Interface Concept Light Switch [Pet Invention via DVICE]

[#1 posted by zuzu , December 1, 2008 9:51 AM]

We had that lightswitch installed for you so you could turn the lights on and off, not so you could throw lightswitch raves!

[#2 posted by mralistair , December 1, 2008 10:19 AM]

this strikes me as massive over-design

fine if you are the only person ever to use your lightswitches but have a house guest and they will never figure it out. the great thing about a switch or knob is that the design not only works but shows you how to operate it.

If you need a manual for a lightswitch something is wrong.

[#3 posted by knifie_sp00nie , December 1, 2008 11:04 AM]

How easy will it be to use this thing while flailing at it in the dark?

[#4 posted by pork musket , December 1, 2008 11:09 AM]

Yeah... this is like trying to improve the toaster. Leave the switch alone and give me a remote interface. There's nothing going on here that can't be accomplished more sustainably in software.

[#5 posted by mightymouse1584 , December 1, 2008 11:10 AM]

i love that when i walk into my room all i have to do is swat at the wall and the lights turn on. a slightly different gesture on the way out and they turn off. its great. very little thought involved. this seems like someone is trying to improve on something that doesnt need improvement. kind of like improving a wristwatch. its already perfect.

[#6 posted by aj , December 1, 2008 1:43 PM]

Yes, I can't understand the need for this. I always turn off mouse gestures as they only cause trouble. Not sure why this is any different.

[#7 posted by monkeybanjo , December 2, 2008 4:14 AM]

This should be used on design courses as an example of what not to do.

[#8 posted by Felix Mitchell , December 2, 2008 5:41 AM]

This strikes me as being cool to control your garden lighting or complex lightning in an open plan space, but bloody annoying if it was in your kitchen or bedroom. Would be good in a shower though if it can be made waterproof.

I feel that people generally like a tactile response when they use things like switches and buttons. We experience the world with our fingers as well, and the haptic experience of this lightswitch is even more minimalist than the visual one.

It's a nice idea, maybe for something else though, like a speaker system.

[#9 posted by krakenskulls , December 2, 2008 9:31 AM]

Putting it in the middle of the wall seems a bit short-sighted: If it were set up in the entryway to a room, and programmed "sideways", it could turn on the lights as you walk in. Behold, the future.