BlackBerry granted gesture recognition patent for touch-free image manipulation

If BlackBerry lives to see 2014 (and beyond), it could end up delighting smartphone users with some neat gesture recognition tech. In a recently surfaced patent filing, the company formerly known as RIM outlines a method for selecting onscreen images using hand or finger movements above a display. By synthesizing a combo of images -- one taken with IR, the other without -- the software would be able to determine the intended area of selection. And just in case there was any doubt this feature would be headed to smartphones and tablets, the docs go on to specify its use within "a mobile communications device, comprising: a digital camera... [and] a cellular subsystem." So there you have it -- you'll either potentially see this hands-off editing tool pop up in future BB devices or BB simply stands to make a some nice coin in licensing fees.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Blackberry

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Source: USPTO