Video: Control Gmail With Kinect-Like Motion Sensing

Gmail Motion Google

This April Fools prank is unsettlingly close to our heart. Google has unleashed a very funny video showing off their new initiative, Gmail Motion. Essentially a Kinect-like motion sensor for Gmail, Gmail Motion is basically an excuse for Google to have people act out awkward full-body gestures for "Mark All As Read."

What's especially great about this is that when I first saw the video's title, I had yet to note that today is April 1st, and thought, "Excellent! I love Kinect hacks!" I imagined swiping through messages with a wave of the hand, or using voice command to delete or move emails. Of course, when the video started, I remembered why this hasn't been done before: Because Gmail is a tremendously powerful and complicated web app, and all the intricate gestures you'd need would obviously be less efficient than just clicking or using keyboard commands. Way to kill my futuristic dreams with all your "practicality," Google.

The page they've set up for Gmail Motion is pretty great, too, with ludicrous testimonials from, for example, a scientist at the "California Center for Kinesis and Paralanguage" about how important non-verbal communication is. Congratulations, Google. You got me. For a second.

[Gmail Motion]