Give your Raspberry Pi some motion for just US$12.90 with a 3D Gesture & Tracking Shield

There are an abundance of HATs online that are designed for the Raspberry Pi, giving the tiny single-board computer (SBC) almost limitless uses. The 3D Gesture & Tracking Shield is one HAT that has caught our eye recently for its ability to bring motion detection and tracking to the Raspberry Pi.

Seeedstudio has built the Shield around a Microchip MGC3130, which allows the device to sense nearby objects. The MGC3130 relies on GestIC® technology for gesture detection and motion tracking. In practice, this should work like LG's Air Motion Gestures. Seeedstudio has demonstrated the technology in a YouTube video that we have included below. The Shield has a large central area with thin strips flanking it on all sides. The two combine to allow the device to sense motion gestures, taps, touches and double clicks. It can recognise motion gestures made up to 10 cm away has a spatial resolution of up to 150 DPI. 

The Shield is compatible with the Raspberry Pi, 2, 3 and Zero, although this may extend to the newly released Raspberry Pi 4 too. The device has a 40-pin GPIO header for communicating with a Pi and comes with mounts to attach it on top of the board. The Shield measures approximately 5.5 x 6.3 cm, so it should fit snugly on a Raspberry Pi 3B+, for example.

Seeedstudio has published an extensive wiki with resources for getting the 3D Gesture & Tracking Shield working. The retailer currently sells the device for US$12.90 and ships worldwide. It also offers bulk discounts, with the price of each reducing to US$11.60 if you order between 10-19 and US$11.00 if you order more than 20.