Nokia patents 3D touchless control interface

I just stumble upon, without actually visiting the website “Stumble Upon” , an article posted in unwiredview about Nokia’s patenting a 3D touchless control interface.

In summary, the post tells about a method of controlling a mobile phone without actually touching it. Control is made possible by making gestures near the device. Ultrasonic transducers in the device emit sound and are reflected back when the sound waves come in contact with your fingers. The reflected sound is then interpreted by the system. (concept similar to sonar?)

What’s interesting is that Sony Ericsson is coming up with the Z555 mobile phone and has a featured “gesture control that allows you to interact with your mobile phone without normally touching it.” Does this actually constitute prior art?

Read about the Nokia 3D touchless control interface.