Gesture interface controls may be taking off in the world of console gaming (Kinect) and desktop environments (Leap Motion), but the dynamic is still struggling to find its place in the world of mobile. That may be about to change thanks to a new app that allows you to control you phone through face-tracking.
See also: Leap Aims to Make Motion Control Ubiquitous — and Awesome [VIDEO]
Israel-based Umoove not only offers a face-tracking app, but it also has an eye-tracking app in the works as well (see video below).
"The beta of the EyeSDK [software development kit] is also already being integrated with some of our partners," Umoove CEO Yitzi Kempinski told Mashable.
"We will be launching a pilot with one of our partners in the next few months and will be releasing a product with another. In general, as apposed to the FaceSDK, the EyeSDK is not going to be open to the general public and will be available to various strategic partners only."
Currently, the primary showcase for the face-tracking technology comes via the Umoove game, which allows you to control a character as it flies through a virtual terrain collecting potions that increase the character’s energy supply.

We took the software for a spin and while the face-tracking works as advertised, executing precise control does take a bit of practice. When the app first starts up it asks you to move your head into a series of on-screen target circles so that it can calibrate its tracking software to your particular position and environment.
After it’s done calibrating, you’re free to begin flying through the virtual world, an experience that is actually pretty addictive. Once you get the hang of it, the only thing you’ll have to get used to are the looks you’ll get from people wondering why you’re nodding and swooping your head at your iPhone.

Although the only application users can use the technology for now is the free game, the video demo also shows the technology being used to control 3D models and GPS maps on tablets.
For now, the free game is only available on iOS, but the company has plans to release an Android version as well. You can download Umoove now via the Apple App Store.
Be honest: It’s the first thing you thought of when you heard about the Kinect. Well, it didn’t take researchers from MIT long to replicate Tom Cruise’s famous scene from Minority Report. After Kinect’s release, they put out a video mimicking the film, as well as the source code itself.
If you thought creating a Twitter plugin for World of Warcraft was a marriage of two great technologies, then this is right up your alley. University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies created a toolkit for Windows that leverages Kinect’s sensors to allow for hands-free questing. This may result in an army of very fit gamers. That, or it could cut down the time players spend in the game.
If you always wanted to appear on the Japanese-inspired game show “Hole in the Wall” and were crushed by its cancellation, there is still hope. Frog Design created a Kinect version of the game for the 2011 SXSW Interactive opening party. It’s almost exactly like the show, minus the bruises. They also deserve kudos for the 8-bit inspired interface.
Everyone has dreamt of invisibility at some point. This next hack gets pretty close by using the background image and overlaying it on a person. Maybe this won’t let you spy on real people, but you can use it to spy on video conferences.
I assume the military has taken note of this next hack, in which MIT and UC Berkley researchers teamed up to create a quadrocopter capable of autonomous flight. It uses the Kinect to take note of its surroundings, including newly introduced obstacles, to navigate a preset path.
Here’s a hack that is both cool and practical. A team from the University of Konstanz in Germany paired the Kinect with a vibrating belt for tactile feedback, a laptop backpack for a brain and a Bluetooth earpiece for verbal instructions to create a tool that can help the blind navigate on their own. It even reads QR codes, which allows the setup to provide even more information to the wearer. Of all the hacks so far, this is the one that seems most ready for mass production. Sorry, World or Warcraft controller.
This was actually one of Microsoft’s own hacks, which shows off what can be done with its developer tool kit. The planned release date is later this spring. Microsoft’s coding4fun.com team wheeled a Kinect-controlled recliner on stage during Wednesday’s Mix11 keynote.
Gestures not only control the omni-directional wheels but also the recline and horn functions.
Does it count as a hack if it was made by Microsoft to show off the new SDK? Not really, but it is still cool enough to make the list.
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Image: YouTube, Umoove