Philips DUAL Remote Concept

With all the feverish design by companies like Google and Apple to create a product that merges Internet and traditional TV viewing, it’s easy to loose sight of the small product details that don’t drive headlines.  While each company is proposing various versions of TV’s “next generation” interface, it’s important not to forget the importance of the remote control’s design.  We’ve seen clever remote designs, such as the full QWERTY keyboard on the Boxee Box’ remote or the oddly shaped GenosTV Cyclops, but neither will likely reach the mass market available to products from Google and Apple.  Two recently announced universal remote control concepts could inspire the future of human interaction with televisions and possibly drive the interface designs for which they would ultimately control.

Philips Home Control DUAL offers two sides of operation.  One side consists of easily recognizable channel, volume, and playback controls, while the opposite side houses a full QWERTY keyboard.  Few other details exist, other than the fact that a release date for the DUAL has not been established.

IDENT Technology's Gesture Remote

Taking things a step further conceptually, the Gesture Remote from IDENT Technology eliminates the buttons on the remote control entirely, instead opting for a touchpad-like surface that senses finger motions which can be interpreted to trigger actions.  User interfaces developed for the Gesture Remote could more closely mimic the computer interfaces to which most people are familiar.  Check out the video below.