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Thumbs up for air conditioning

JAPAN: A Japanese company claims to have developed a means of controlling facilities such as lighting, ventilation, and air conditioning with hand gestures.

Osaka-based Takenaka Corporation says its Contactless Smart Control uses an AI camera installed on the ceiling to recognise the shape of the hand and the position of the fingertips.


Wall switch mode         Air switch mode

It can recognise seven hand patterns/gestures and outputs a command to each device accordingly. It operates in two modes: wall switch and air switch. In the wall switch mode, the pointing shape and position of the hand are determined, and the lighting is turned on/off and dimmed. In the air switch mode, you can change the air conditioning temperature setting by holding your palm over the designated zone. 

Doing away with wall switches, the contactless operation also avoids a potential source of infection. 

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