Play/Pause VLC & Quicktime using Flutter - Gestures via Webcam (YC W12) | Hacker News Reader

Play/Pause VLC & Quicktime using Flutter - Gestures via Webcam (YC W12)

flutter.io

34 pointsmehuln15 comments

Am I the only one who can't stand the website? There is nothing more than a brief paragraph about what the product does. It doesn't tell you what programs it works with, what platforms it works on, or numerous other details I'd like to know. PLEASE give me some information about what it is exactly I'm trying to download. I'm at work and it tells me it's not available on my operating system because it's on Windows. But I run Linux and OSX at home, does it support either of those? I can't even find out if I wanted to.

You're right - our website not the greatest thing in the world. We are working it too... please be patient as we're still a small team.

Yes, it works on Mac and Windows version will come soon!

By Popular Demand, We have added support for VLC and Quicktime. Next on the deck Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and YouTube.

New gestures coming soon as well!

Looking forward to the new gestures and voice control. It's really fun to use!

Thank You!

Looks like this uses anywhere from 4-20% CPU while running on my 3.4 GHz quad-core i7 iMac. Have you thought about laptop battery life/power bill/world pollution implications?

Great question. As you correctly noticed, we use about 3-30% CPU and 30% only when gesture occurs, so on average it uses about 5% CPU - less than your average browser. Hence, our implications should not be any diff. Thanks for point it out, we will certainly keep an eye on it.

Seems cool, but I have questions: What's the error rate like? Also how close do you have to be to your webcam to use this? If I have to be right at my computer like the demo video shows, it seems kind of pointless as I can just hit space or the pause/play button on my mac. Can I get more accurate readings if I hook up a kinect to my computer? Is it always watching or is it voice-to-activate driven?

It's always watching. It's kind of sensitive right now, with not enough of a "lockout" between stopping and starting (sometimes as i lower my hand from pausing/playing it'll play/pause, a bit annoying)

Also, maybe my face looks like a palm, but sometimes it'll just pause.

You're right about that first version was a bit sensitive. Some backend goodies are part of this version so false positive rates should've gone down. Try the new version and see if you feel any improvements.

Also, yes, camera is on all the time but you can turn of camera by clicking on Flutter icon and picking that option.

Lastly, this app runs entirely on local machine. It does not record or stream video data - it detects gestures locally in real time, so no video data ever leaves your machine.

Hope it helps!! :)

Great questions. It works the best from 1-6 feet, so no you don't have to be right in-front of your comp.

The latest version has improved false positive rate where we got one every few hours.

Kinect is overkill for accuracy at this point, so that will not matter.

Lastly, yes camera is on, but app runs locally so no video data ever leaves your computer. Only server component is usual analytics logging.

Doesn't seem to be available for Windows users yet. Post title should mention this.

Great point. Apologies for missing that. Good news is that Windows version is in the works too!

i don't know, taking my hand off my keyboard or mouse just to control a music program sounds more annoying to me, but the tech is cool.

Thanks for your feedback. Please try it and let us know!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com