Broadband and Me

18:09 29 July 03

NewScientist.com news service

Linking devices via a wireless network could be considerably simplified using a “point-and-connect” technology being developed by Sony.
The camera-based system, developed by researchers at Sony’s Interaction Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan, lets users instantly transfer data from a laptop or handheld computer to a device in close proximity connected to the same wireless network.
Researcher Ayatsuka Yuji says the prototype system, dubbed Gaze-Link, removes the need to manually configure networked devices for this purpose.
“It is so troublesome, especially when there are many networked devices,” Yuji told New Scientist. “When you want to send data in your PDA to a printer, for example, you have to input or to select a correct network address.”

Small sticker

A code displayed on a small sticker attached to each device is identified by the laptop’s camera. Software running on the laptop then automatically locates the device on the network. “Gaze-Link is one of the challenges to make connecting more ‘intuitive’,” Yuji says.

Simeon Keates, a computer usability researcher at Cambridge University, UK, says the system could have real benefits if there are a multitude of different devices connected to a network.

“As the home gets more connected, user overload is going to become more of an issue,” he says. “It would certainly be helpful for someone who was nervous of the technology.”

But Keates adds that this benefit will depend largely on the accuracy and reliability of the system. It must also be able to distinguish between different devices stacked next to each other, he says.