Why should touch interfaces be limited to phones and computers? A team from Disney Research and Carnegie-Mellon University has developed a gestural-based touch interface that could be used for virtually any surface — doorknobs, tables, even parts of your body.
The range of applications for the technology, called Touche, is potentially huge. A doorknob could “know” if it should lock or not depending on how it is grasped. A stereo system that could mute itself if a single finger is brought to a person’s lips, or a sofa could turn the TV on or off, depending on whether someone is sitting on the sofa.
Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing
The research is being presented Monday in a paper at the Conference on Human Factors in Computering Systems in Austin, Texas.
Touchscreens frequently use capacitive touch sensing, but they only sense at one frequency. Touche, on the other hand, uses its Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing (SFCS) system to detect capacitive signals throughout a range of frequencies, allowing a much wider range of gestures.
On a doorknob, for instance, the system can detect the difference between a single finger touch, two fingers, a pinch, or a circular grasp. A doorknob could be programmed to lock or unlock, generate a voice message for the next user, turn off lights in the house, or other functions, all depending on the type of touch it has received from a user’s hand.
The technology could also dramatically transform touchscreens. The researchers have created a demonstration screen that has far more input recognition than is currently available, allowing a hand, for instance, to indicate a mouse right-click or copy/paste functions, simply by the hand configuration.
Privacy Issues
Al Hilwa, director of application development at IDC, said there was “no doubt” that this kind of system could have many uses. He added that “we’re definitely headed…
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