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PRACTICAL MAGIC
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Jestr is a new user interface for spatial computing that uses only hand gestures. No point and click, no gaze and pinch, no hardware hand controllers.
Jestr is AR wizardry, ideal for controlling the latest generation of digital devices— such as lights, sound systems, motorized cameras, and drones.
It's a comprehensive control language for professional applications, as precise and reliable as any control systems used now. It's a magical new instrument for the performing arts. Because Jestr derives control signals from subtle hand gestures, it brings a new level of human expression to digital technology.
Above all, it's really fun to use.
(Sound On to see Margo perform an unedited 90 seconds to LCD Sound System)
Jestr flips the script on interface controls. The familiar array of virtual controls is gone. No virtual desktop, floating windows, icons, widgets, simulated knobs or buttons. Instead, the user generates all commands from natural hand gestures while enjoying a clear, unobstructed view of the physical space.
The physical space—“the room”—can be a small studio, a theater, a dance club, a movie set, an outdoor festival stage.
Jestr exploits the sensitivity of the headset’s front-facing cameras to create a comprehensive set of discrete commands from hand an finger combinations alone. Commands can be strung together with fluid, continuous motions to execute extended command sequences without interrupting the flow.
Notice in the video above how Margo casts colors by opening her hands to the lights, then pulls her fists in for the CLEAR command, all in one flowing motion. She’s controlling intensity, hue, and saturation with subtle adjustments of the angles and positioning of her hands.
And notice, while working all these commands, she’s dancing.
Augmented reality, as most people know it, is about overlays of fanciful holograms, virtual screens, and digital content floating in the field of view. The physical space, the room, is mere background. Jestr does the opposite. Jestr prioritizes the physical space. The only virtual objects in view are holograms serving to guide the execution of commands.
Jestr gives holograms a new role. They're more like dance partners. They’re magical, beautiful glowing particles that change color and pulse and swirl around your hands as you select parameters and conjure a spell. Then they shoot out your fingers and hit lights across the room to make them burst with new color. This conjure and cast routine is the basis of all Jestr commands
LIGHT WAVE
This video introduces Light Wave, a Jestr application for controlling professional LED lights.
Precision controller
Jestr is a precision controller. It’s flexible, configurable, adaptable to any complex or specialized task. There is no limit to the number or type of devices that can be controlled simultaneously. Jestr converts expressive, sweeping gestures through 3D space into fluid control sequences—sequences that can be recorded, saved and played back later. Jestr is also a continuous controller ideal for flying drones or guiding machines. Or for gaming.
Easy to Learn
Hand gestures are easy to learn and remember because they are reinforced by muscle memory. We already know how to use our hands to manipulate things. Instead of having to navigate hierarchies of menus, the operator has direct, hands-on control of everything in view. It’s like the difference between throwing a baseball and telling a machine to throw a baseball.
Tested, not vaporware
Since we began developing Jestr in 2016, we’ve clocked thousands of hours of user tests. With our clients we’ve invented new games, a new genre of flow art, and immersive user-driven entertainment for parties, clubs, and festivals. We’ve also applied Jestr to do real work. For example, Jestr was used to control the lights for the filming of a movie for Paramount Pictures.
We hold a US patent: Systems and Methods for Controlling Secondary Devices Using Mixed, Virtual or Augmented Reality