i have bought the skywriter to play arround with. 20 minutes after connecting it to my arduiono, i am cought up completly. This is the most fun ever to control my computer with it. For the future i hope to see a stand for it, yet i have to build my own ( - i am with 2 left hands, when it comes to constructing..).

Let magic come to life and connect this to the computer or micro controller of your choice. There are a lot of different gestures that are detected (wave, swipe, touch, draw circles/volume control) but you can also read out the XYZ positions of your hand/finger. The python library looks good although I have not had the chance to test everything in there. Skywriter uses the MGC3130 controller from microchip. Check out the microchip website for lots of information about this device, but be warned: it is a complex controller. Pimoroni did a good job providing a library that you can use. Indeed 6 stars out of 5 :)

They are a great lot of fun and can be used as a neat input device. There is a Python application which turns one into a Mouse. Definitely not too precise, and sometimes mine detects gestures randomly. Touches are triggered randomly even when my finger is still an inch or so away from the board. Interrupts didn't seem to work with Arduino either. Worked pretty neatly with Raspberry Pi and would be great for mostly gestures and non-precise Input for Selections or similar. Definitely cool and a lot of fun, at a decent price. Easy to use, I2C, compatible with a lot of MCUs. In my case, the stated 15cm Range is a bit optimistic, more like 8-10, 12 at most without any materials inbetween.

I recently received the skywriter 3D controller and attached it today to my chipKit Microcontroller (http://www.helvepic32.de). As the controller is using I2C it worked out of the box and was detected at its designeted address. I loaded the Arduino code, adjusted three defines to be C++ compliant and the controller worked! It detects the location of my hand and the gestures, taps and double-taps. The whole product is - especially at its price - a must-have for everyone who works with microcontrolers. It is independent of the platform and absolutely easy to use. There are only two things I miss: a bit more documentation on the gestures and the chance to give 6 stars out of 5 ;) Ciao, Mathias