Augmented reality development tool builder Augumenta Ltd. today announced the release of Infinite Touch, a toolkit for developers to enable 3-D gesture interaction for Microsoft HoloLens and Android smartglasses.

One of the most powerful use cases for AR is the ability to add virtual objects the to the real world by overlaying them in a user’s vision, but placing objects is only one part of the puzzle. The ability to reach out and touch them, thus providing a method of interaction, is where gesture recognition and detection comes into play.

The challenge of achieving seamless gesture detection, such as tracking hands and fingers, or other movement, has proved to be an obstacle for the development of consumer and enterprise-focused apps. With Infinite Touch, smartglasses using 3-D camera sensors can control virtual objects by simply pointing at them with a finger.

This ability greatly increases the usefulness of AR by providing a layer of interactivity that goes beyond built-in gesture detection. It enables advanced input capabilities such as pressing buttons, point to execute and finger browsing menu options.

“There’s huge potential in AR for both enterprises and consumers, but one of the things slowing down adoption has been the ability to interact in an intuitive way that requires no learning,” said Tero Aaltonen, co-founder and chief executive of Augumenta. “Infinite Touch addresses this problem by providing a powerful and simple interaction method: pointing with a finger. We are looking forward to new application concepts coming out from our partners based on this technology.”

On the Microsoft HoloLens, Infinite Touch uses the built-in Time-of-Flight 3-D camera sensor. For Android devices, Augumenta is working with the ToF sensor vendor PMDtechnologies Inc. to create a camera and mount for smartglasses that can add this capability with a simple hardware change.

The PMDtec camera Augumenta will use is the pico flexx and the first Android device to support this option will be the ODG R-9. “The pico flexx is small, inexpensive and easy to use, making it an ideal selection for this use-case,” said Mitchell Reifel, vice president of business development and sales at PMDtechnologies.

The Augumenta Infinite Touch software development kit for HoloLens is immediately available to developers working with the Unity3D framework. Business and enterprise developers interested in buying the toolkit can do so for a discounted launch promotion price of $2,633.

The discounted rate will last until the end of October and an updated list of Android devices the sensors are available for will be released by the end of the year. Further information is available on the Infinite Touch website.

Image: Augumenta