Remote controls of the future could feature touch screens

Everything goes touch these days, except a minor few gadgets that are trailing the pack. The classic remote control is one of those who haven’t change as a concept for decades. Microsoft is willing to bet they can change it and improve what we have now with a far more advanced concept, which they’ve patented and includes an accelerometer and a few touchscreens. The accelerometer is used to detect the orientation of the device, which can be translated into a command and the multiple touch screens can be customized with a number of virtual buttons that appear contextually to what you’re trying to control at a given moment.

Of course things are still in concept form, no prototype being produced (to our knowledge), but we’re eager to see what Microsoft can achieve with this move. Even if the device will recognize gestures like pinch, swipe and such I find it difficult to behave as a real life gadget, as in the case of the classic remote you always know where buttons are and which one to press without having to look at the remote. This concept from Microsoft doesn’t have buttons, which might confuse a lot of users used to the way thinks work now.

Swipe and touch remote control