Now your palm is an invisible phone

By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 24 May 2011, 19:06 IST   |    3 Comments
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Bangalore: Have you ever imagined of buying an invisible phone? Gone are the days when you would buy a mobile to flaunt. A new technology has been worked out by researchers from Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, which enables you to perform the functions of your phone, just by tapping your palm. Henceforth your palm will turn into an invisible phone . iPhone user can utilize the full potential of the phone even without physically touching the device. The device maps the touch screen to the palm of your hand and all that one needs to do is simply touch your palm wherever you would normally tap on the screen. The phone reacts to the input and allows you to answer calls via speakerphone. The researchers are using a depth camera similar to Microsoft's Kinect peripheral camera for its Xbox 360, which views a user's palm while they are tapping and sliding their finger. The large headset and the motion-sensing camera, as well as a wi-fi transmitter are used to send the gesture inputs to the phone. Professor Patrick Baudisch, says the imaginary phone prototype "serves as a shortcut that frees users from the necessity to retrieve the actual physical device." As far as the cost of this invisible phone is concerned, it is not yet clear. However it is expected to hit the market by end of the year. The German researchers say this technology can be very helpful for people when they are engaged in activity like washing dishes. When their phone rings, rather than drying their hands off, the person could simply use a finger on their palm to answer or reject the call. The camera will be the biggest impediment for Germen researchers, as at present camera is mounted on a tripod that views the person's hand gestures and sends signals back to the iPhone. Baudisch and his team are working on a way to eliminate the tripod before the system hits the market. However this is not the first attempt on this field, earlier many such initiatives had been taken by few. Aston Martin released the CPT002, which features a transparent touch screen with a platinum frame, containing the nuts and bolts of the device and LG unveiled the GD9000 in 2009, a mobile phone with a transparent keypad.