Now, a keypad on your forearm
Wednesday, 03 March 2010, 00:37 IST
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Now, a keypad on your forearm
Bangalore: An international team has come up with a system, called 'Skinput,' which has the ability to detect the ultralow -frequency sound produced by tapping the skin with a finger, and microchip-sized projectors now found in some cellphones. According to the scientists, the system beams a menu or keyboard onto the user's forearm and hand from a projector housed in an armband, reports PTI. An acoustic detector, in the armband, then calculates which part of the display to be activated. But how does the system know which icon, button or finger the user tapped? Well, for this, the scientists have identified various locations on the forearm and hand that produce characteristic acoustic patterns when tapped, the New Scientist reported. The acoustic detector in the armband contains five piezoelectric cantilevers, each weighted to respond to certain bands of sound frequencies. Different combinations of sensors are activated to differing degrees depending on where the arm is tapped, say the scientists. Twenty volunteers tested the system and most found it easy to navigate through icons on the forearm and tap fingers to actuate commands.The subjects were able to deftly scroll through menus whether they moved up and down or flicked across their arm, according to the team. "Skinput works very well for a series of gestures, even when the body is in motion," Chris Harrison at Carnegie Mellon University, who led the team, was quoted as saying.

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