An interesting story in the Wall Street Journal: 'Minority Report' Inspires Technology Aimed at Military.
In the futuristic movie "Minority Report," Tom Cruise gestures with his gloved hands to sift through crime-clue data that are displayed on giant screens. With the twist of a wrist he can move information from one column to another or delete items. (...) Raytheon then hunted down the scientist who was behind the movie technology, John Underkoffler. Raytheon decided to fund an effort to try to turn his film fantasy into reality and explore its potential for speeding up intelligence analysis (...) The fruits of that investment are housed in a darkened room in a converted Los Angeles factory. There, a man wearing reflective gloves uses hand gestures to manipulate pictures projected on a panoramic screen. He slides an index finger forward to zoom in on a street scene; swivels a horizontal hand to the right to scroll through a video; sweeps both hands to the left to clear the screen. Raytheon believes such "gesture technology" can help solve one of the military's biggest problems: information overload (...) Raytheon isn't alone in chasing the command post of the future. And it isn't the only company injecting Hollywood into this race. Silicon Graphics Inc., which is known for special effects in movies, is working with the Army to develop the computing firepower that command centers will need.
And on a different note, video games are also looking in that direction:
Raytheon is working on more immediate applications, such as a device called a Common Tactical Blackboard to offer a portable bird's-eye view of a battle zone and software that suggests combat responses. But Mr. Underkoffler retains the right to pursue commercial uses, such as command-and-control operations for railroads and ports, and virtual wind tunnels for industrial designers. Videogames are also in the mix. With similar but less advanced technology, Sony Corp. already markets the EyeToy, in which a camera captures a person's movements and incorporates them into the game on the TV.