Touchscreens are everywhere nowadays - of course in our phones and tablets, but also in cars, household devices, and even public facilities like retail store checkouts or hospitals.
But what if you could turn part of your body into a touchscreen?
A new wearable created by researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania promises just that.
It turns your arm into a touchpad to control a smart watch!
Smartwatches have become increasingly popular in the last few years, but the small screen size has always been a problem. It's just not very functional trying to control a touchscreen with 1/4 size of your smartphone.
“A major problem with smartwatches and other digital jewelry is that their screens are so tiny. Not only is the interaction area small, but your finger actually blocks much of the screen when you’re using it. Input tends to be pretty basic, confined to a few buttons or some directional swipes.”“SkinTrack makes it possible to move interactions from the screen onto the arm, providing much larger interface."
-Gierad Laput and Chris Harrison from the research team
How does SkinTrack work?
The SkinTrack wearable consists of a wristband and a ring.
The ring sends electrical signals through the finger, which are then being picked up by the sensing band.
If the finger wearing the ring touches the skin, a high-frequency electrical signal is released over the arm.
The device then measures the distance between the four electrodes embedded in the wristband and the electrical signal, to calculate exactly where your finger is touching the skin on your arm.
The SkinTrack touchscreen has proven 99% accuracy and the location of touch was measured with maximum errors of 7.6 millimeters!
Features
SkinTrack can be viewed as an extension of the touchpad for a smartwatch.
It recognizes gestures like swiping, dragging or poking.
Therefore, it can be used to navigate through apps, playing games, dialing numbers, accepting calls and more.
Challenges
Although the wearable was developed about 1 year ago, there are still some challenges to overcome .
Humidity, sweat or oils on the skin can make the signal harder to locate.
Also, the charge of the ring doesn't last very long, limiting the use of the device.
The SkinTrack was a scientific experiment and there are no concrete plans to turn it into a commercial product.
But the technology is very promising and shows the potential for future touchscreen-wearables for the human body!
Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- Instagram -
© Sirwinchester
Wearable interfaces are such a cool concept, but far from consumer friendly still at this point... regardless you always have interesting posts. FOLLOWED.
Thank you for your support, I appreciate that! 🙌
That is very cool tech. One possible application could be for use in virtual reality instead of having to wield controllers. Just a thought.
Thanks for sharing
You're right, that would be a great idea!
What will they think of next?
There's always something new!
Very interesting post @sirwinchester greetings from Cologne Germany my name is Lars @laloelectrix have a nice day 👍😎
Viele Grüße von Hamburg nach Köln! 😄
Hey Dankeschön für die Antwort auch in #deutsch auf jeden Fall #upvote und #resteem und auch ein follow 👍😎 ich bin gerade erst ein paar Tage hier in #steemit freue mich auf Deine weiteren Informationen & posts ... Grüße Lars @laloelectrix
Very cool, I had never heard of this tech before. I'm still not a fan of the "smartwatch" concept but this is a step towards making them usable.
Yes I know, the smartwatch was a revolutionary idea but it still lacks functionality! But you're right, something like this could make it much more interesting.
This will definitely not work for me, i am a Sweat Merchant!😢
Hahaha, yes then the signal won't be very accurate in your case
Somebody help me!😣
That is so interesting!! Great post!! Upvoted :)
Thank you for the feedback! 👍
@sirwinchester
It's an interesting concept as long as it's safe and doesn't pose any health risks with long-term use. Nevertheless, it's still a fascinating concept! I like the Steemit logo displayed on the screen! :)
According to different articles, it's completely safe to use
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2016/may/skintrack-technology.htmlAnd thank you for noticing the steemit logo! ;)
@sirwinchester
Thanks so much for sharing the link. That's encouraging to know that the technology is safe. It looks cool! Keep up the good work with your creative blogs! :) I wish you all the best!
Looks promising indeed!
Upped & followed!
Thank you! Much appreciated!
That part where one is tapping on the hand, but the calculator shows up on the watch. Interesting future we have ahead of us.
Definitely. I can't even imagine how far wearables will develop in the next decade!
Woah this is cool! However, wearables still have a long way to go before they become a useful gadget. I own an Apple Watch, and I hardly use it. Upvoted and followed :)
This is pretty cool!
Yes! The wearable ring + phone or watch combo is an exciting one to me. It feels like the right balance of hi-tech and crazy, but not too intrusive.
Plus - the ring & watch isn't going to freak people out the way Google Glass & Snapchat Spectacles seem to do.
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Really interesting article, my brain just started some intense work. This could be brilliant for so many things, as mentioned by the other replys :o
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Definitely some cool functionality there. I have an Asus Zenwatch, which is pretty out dated at this point, and navigating a touch screen that small can be difficult, so using this tech could help resolve that issue. Just make sure it gets put in something fashionable. :)
The technology is interesting. But yes, wet / sweaty hands will make it challenging. One more thing, if someone grows hairs in those parts, would it be any problem?