Biometric Devices: Skin Based Touch Interface
The way we interact with technology is advancing just as fast as the technologies themselves. Interfaces come in all different shapes and sizes, and now there are many more ways to operate them than the mouse and joystick of the past. In previous Eye Tracking Update posts, we’ve mentioned ocular control with eye tracking devices, and head tracking screen navigation among others. But the hot trend right now is touch screen interface interaction, which is appearing in devices like cell phones, audio players, and kiosks, to name a few. An article posted on GizmoWatch.com, describes several revolutionary interfaces with the main focus on something called Skinput.
Developed by Chris Harrison of Carnegie Mellon University, the Skinput turns your own body into a touch screen interface. Mobile technologies are decreasing in size, which consequently decreases the surface area of the interface. The Skinput provides extra surface area for input using something you have with you at all times—your skin.
When the finger taps the skin, a multitude of sound frequencies, or bioacoustics, are created. Harrison developed an armband that senses these acoustic signals and detects the specific location being tapped on the skin. A micro-sized pico projector embedded in the armband projects a dynamic graphical interface resembling a keyboard, menu, or graphic onto the arm or hand turning it into a finger input device.
During user testing, the device proved to be up to 95.5% accurate and can be used while in motion. It also can be used with Bluetooth to connect with electronics. A YouTube video on the Skinput proposes an application used by runners to control an audio device, like an iPod, by pressing button icons projected on their hand rather than wrestling with the device strapped to their arm.
It will be very interesting to see where this technology goes. By turning the body itself into an input device, this gizmo takes human-computer interaction to a whole new level.
Skin-based interface transforms the body into a touchscreen
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