WOODBURY, N.Y. -- Video gesture control technology company GestureTek Inc. , seeking to expand the markets for its GestTrack™ and GestXtreme technologies, will showcase both applications during a pair of Southern California trade shows on August 14-16, according to a company news release. GestureTek Inc. will take part in The Tradeshow About Tradeshows in Anaheim, Calif., and Siggraph 2001 in Los Angeles.

GestTrack™, which the company introduced in June, is a gesture control application that allows users to control content on a computer screen by making gestures at the screen. GestureTek Inc. officials hope the technology, which allows users to navigate the Internet and rotate 3D product images without touching a screen, keyboard, or mouse, could eventually replace the mouse for many applications, including games and retail shopping.

GestXtremeT goes one step further, enabling users to control what is happening on screen by using their entire bodies. A video camera captures a user's image and projects that image into a virtual setting. The software monitors the user's actions and translates those actions into what is happening on screen. The technology has been utilized by museums and entertainment facilities for interactive games and exhibits.

GestTrack™ is currently being utilized at Rogers AT&T retail stores in Toronto as a storefront window kiosk display. Users can access the store's Web site and view its product line 24 hours a day. GestXtremeT's technology is in use with a virtual basketball game at the University of Kentucky Basketball Hall of Fame, and in a horse race simulator at the Museum of the Horse in Ruidoso, N.M.

GestureTek Inc. . hopes to use The Tradeshow About Tradeshows as a platform for displaying how both technologies can be utilized in tradeshow settings. Large screen displays, video projectors, and digital content are all elements that have come to the fore in tradeshows; in the news release, a GestureTek Inc. official said the intuitive control the company's technologies offer would make them naturals at tradeshows.

Siggraph 2001 is a conference devoted to exploring new concepts in the area of international and digital imaging. The conference's programs will be split into five areas of interest: animation and special effects, art, game development and interactive techniques, virtual reality, and Web-related themes.