Hackers Turn a Gmail April Fool’s Joke Into a Reality

[Zorua]

If you happened upon the Internet Friday, you would have been faced with what has now become an annual tradition online: Technology companies trying to one-up each other with April Fool’s jokes posted online.

Google, for one, takes its April Fool’s gags very seriously. This year was no exception. Users of Gmail, Google’s e-mail service, were told about a new product, Gmail Motion, which would allow people to “control Gmail with your body!”

The company created an in-depth video explaining how this new mock service would work, where users could literally bounce around in front of their computer to sift through their inbox. Swinging a fist backward through the air would allow you to reply to a message; swinging two fists would reply-to-all; licking your hand — intended to be a stamp — and then tapping your right knee would send the message.

Of course this was all a joke. But hackers at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies wanted to make it a reality. To do this, a team of developers took a Microsoft Kinect sensor and some software they had built for previous projects and tied them together to create a fully working version of Gmail Motion.[/p]

Source

Video

 

[twiztidsinz]

Given that the technology to do this was already made and being used in a similar fashion, not all that impressive.
Still cool though.

 

[Ikki]

It's cool that they had the enthusiasm to do it.

 

[nando]

i noticed that motion thing. i didn't know if it was a joke, but like many things google i didn't care.

 

[nryn99]

SLOOW and FAAST?

but i still like typing better.

 

[Magsor]

Google should be making voice recognition readily available for everyone instead of losing their time with kinect. I don't know anyone who use voice reconition on their computer and the technology has existed for ??? years. Do you?

 

[Zorua]

Google should be making voice recognition readily available for everyone instead of losing their time with kinect. I don't know anyone who use voice reconition on their computer and the technology has existed for ??? years. Do you?

Nope, but I use it on my Android phone for Voice Dialing. It's really handy so I don't see why computers don't use it.

 

[nryn99]

Google should be making voice recognition readily available for everyone instead of losing their time with kinect. I don't know anyone who use voice reconition on their computer and the technology has existed for ??? years. Do you?

Nope, but I use it on my Android phone for Voice Dialing. It's really handy so I don't see why computers don't use it.

this won't work for me. for some reason, i find it hard to speak with a phone or pc. in fact, in my years of using a cell phone, i only had around 20 calls.

 

[shakirmoledina]

what if it was a conspiracy and google WANTED hackers to do so... or like gbatemp, it was meant to look like a gag but infact was a reality

 

[twiztidsinz]

Google should be making voice recognition readily available for everyone instead of losing their time with kinect. I don't know anyone who use voice reconition on their computer and the technology has existed for ??? years. Do you?

Because unless you take the time to train a voice recognition app, the accuracy is less than desirable due to dialects and accents.

 

[Deleted User]

Google. Got. Pwned.

Those hackers are pretty good, though

 

[Gh0sti]

google didnt get pwned it was just a joke that was shown to be true its not a slam more like this can and will be done, i had suspicions that it could be done with kinect its just the right people had to set it up

 

[The Pi]

About voice recognition, try using it with a strong scottish accent, I dare you.

Also quite neat that it was actually done.

 

[Rydian]

I don't know anyone who use voice reconition on their computer and the technology has existed for ??? years. Do you?

I've tried it.
It's slower.
Speaking a sentence to have the computer click a button, versus clicking one yourself...

Speech stuff actually slows down normally-functioning people, that's why it's not used.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

There are times when it can be useful. For example, Voice Controls for Android is pretty nice, for example if you need to focus on driving rather than texting, or if you want to play an album without having to navigate through the whole collection. Even with computers, it can still be faster to dictate an e-mail or paper rather than type the whole thing, depending on how well the computer interprets your voice and how much you need to go back and correct.

 

[Thesolcity]

Try Dragon Naturally Speaking on your computer.
Then tell me voice recognition/commands should be implemented natively in computers.

 

[naved.islam14]

Wow, I remember being fooled by that one. But won't google like sue them for copying their idea?

 

[alphenor]

Wow, I remember being fooled by that one. But won't google like sue them for copying their idea?

Nope coz Google can't do so coz Google Motion was just a joke that would perhaps be made (by Google) into reality a few years later. And since they clearly stated that it was a joke, those hackers can do whatever they want.

 

[Mazor]

Wow, I remember being fooled by that one. But won't google like sue them for copying their idea?

Yeah, they must have copyrighted the fuck out of Google Motion and would definitely see suing these copycat hackers as a great chance to boost their reputation.

 

[MelodieOctavia]

Try Dragon Naturally Speaking on your computer.
Then tell me voice recognition/commands should be implemented natively in computers.

I have...and I have found that Voice Recognition software is for the technically inept and/or people who can't type with any amount of speed. I can type way faster than Dragon can spit out words.