Interactive Shop Windows - Coming Soon

It won't be too long before this gesture technology is embedded in the glass.

Window Shopping Goes High Tech With Gesture Recognition: German researchers have given a new meaning to window shopping. At the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute showed a prototype that lets shoppers learn more about what's in a store display window when the store is closed.

Called the Interactive Shop Window the system consists of a flat screen monitor and a motion tracker positioned behind the glass of a store's front window. When window-shoppers stand in front of the window, they can point at a product they want. Then the display box holding the product will light up and information for the object will be shown on the screen. Window-shoppers can then view it in different colors or sizes, or learn more about it.

The system is controlled by the window-shopper's gestures, which are captured using motion tracking technology that the Fraunhofer team has been working on for a decade. The institute is looking for partners to further the technology and one day change the look of department store windows. "We're searching for partners in the industry to bring it as a new product," said Paul Chojacki, in charge of interactive media for the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute. "We have some bigger companies in Germany who are interested in this," he said, although he didn't say which ones.

Before the system is ready for a commercial debut there are still some bugs that need to be worked out. For example, the pointer will sometimes jump around the screen, or something will be selected that wasn't intended. Chojacki said one of the biggest challenges was making sure the motion tracking system filtered out reflections on the store front glass. "The window is a problem for us because it's reflecting light and pictures," he said. "We found a solution that is working very well right now."

Another problem for the team will be teaching passers by how to use the system because it isn't all that intuitive. Users have to stand in exactly the right spot and make gestures in a defined area for the motion tracker to see them. Chojacki said that the Fraunhofer motion tracker could be replaced by a Microsoft Kinect sensor, but that theirs is specially tailored for the project.

Fraunhofer has been working on its motion tracker well before the Kinect premiered, and has shown it at previous IFA shows. In 2008 it was used in the iPointPresenter project, which allowed users to control a mouse cursor using gestures. At the time it could only track objects on a 2D plane. In 2009 the team upgraded the system for the iPoint3D project that recognized gestures on the X, Y and Z axes. Chojacki was also involved with iPoint3D.

Window Cleaners Hate Valentines Day in Vermont

A capital with a lot of hearts - Who's the 'Valentine Phantom?' No one wants to know: One of the rewards for working through the night, arranging flower bouquets for Valentine's Day, is the thrill of possibly spotting the "Valentine Phantom" slinking through downtown, slapping red paper hearts all over. "It's really amazing," said Buffy Farrell, of Buffy's Bouquet on Main Street, admitting she's caught a glimpse of the phantom in action. "We've been right here and had it done. That's the highlight every year, we try to catch them." But most people admit they don't want to know who it is that scatters red hearts throughout the city for Valentine's Day. "My mom knows who it is, which makes me really sad," said Alana La Point, an employee of the Drawing Board, where red hearts are already hanging from the window. "It's almost more magical if you don't know… I think it's a simple, awesome way to get the whole town into Valentine's Day." No one knows exactly how many years the streets of Montpelier have been splashed with red hearts on Feb. 14. Some guessed five years, while others said it could be as many as nine. "Every year the Valentine Phantom does it a little differently," said Suzanne Hechmer, executive direc-tor of the Montpelier Downtown Community Association. "I don't know anybody – except for the window washer – who doesn't think it's fabulous."

There are specific years that stand out for some, like two years ago when the Valentine Phantom tagged the Statehouse with oversized hearts.
"What I love about it is how it has expanded over time," said Mayor Mary Hooper, noting last year there were hearts found on the campus of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. "In a way it's becoming a statement about Montpelier… It's got to be a secret. I have my theories, but I'm not sharing." Claire Benedict of Bear Pond Books said she finds the hearts cheery.
"It brightens up a gray February day in Montpelier," she said. "I think it just cheers everybody up." Even those who are not a fan of the holiday are happy to see hearts posted on windows of businesses. "I think it's incredibly cool – and I'm not one to be very excited about gushy stuff," said George Spaulding, an employee of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. "I also like that different people in town have different ideas as to who it is… It's sort of a mystery that the community protects because no one really wants to know."
Nancy Anderson agrees. She lives in Berlin and works at Cool Jewels downtown. Whether she works the holiday or not, Anderson will make the trip into town to check out the hearts. "It's a wonderful thing," she said, admitting the mystery is what makes it fun. "It's kind of like Santa. Do you really want to tell a 3-year-old where Santa comes from?" Along the same vein as Santa, is the Phantom really a single person working alone? "My gut tells me that it's more than one person because it's become so huge," said Hechmer. "Isn't it nice to have a mystery?" Even if it has been going on for only a decade or so, it has become the way Vermont's capital city celebrates the holiday of hearts. "It wouldn't be Valentine's Day without the Valentine Phantom," said Rachel Senechal, an employee of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. "What it does for me is it puts a smile on my face."