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Hardware Hacking Input Devices

Acoustic Sensors Make Any Surface a Touch Pad 142

Posted by CmdrTaco from the now-isn't-that-keen dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Using cheap acoustic sensors the surface of any 3D object can be instantly made into a touch-sensitive interface capable of tracking two objects at once. Its creators are planning to make hospitals more hygienic — keyboards and mice will be replaced by desks wired to perform as keyboards and touchpads. A video shows it in action [.wmv]."
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Acoustic Sensors Make Any Surface a Touch Pad More

Acoustic Sensors Make Any Surface a Touch Pad

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  • In space.... (Score:1, Funny)

    by fitten ( 521191 )
    no one (not even your computer) can hear you typing!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mrjb ( 547783 )
      BZZZZZZZT wrong :) Sound needs a medium to propagate. This medium isn't restricted to air, however. Your desk will do fine as a medium to transfer vibrations, and if acoustic sensors are attached to it firmly enough, they will pick up the typing vibrations just fine, even in a vacuum.

  • New PDA Feature? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by blaster151 ( 874280 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:03AM (#17033582)
    Hospitals? Not the first application that would have come to mind, but a little extra hygiene never hurt anyone. (Cue jokes about Slashdotters) I'm more interested in the portable computing applications. Does this mean that we could sit down at Starbucks, whip out a PDA equipped with this device, and have the table surface become a full-sized keyboard/mouse arrangement? That would be sweet!
    • this has been out for two(?) years
      http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/ [virtual-la...yboard.com]

      • Strictly speaking, no it has not. While the end result may be similar, TFA concerns the use of a piezo-acoustic system to detect a "keypress"; the URL you provided describes a product which relies upon an optical system.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by orasio ( 188021 )
          Strictly speaking, no it has not. While the end result may be similar, TFA concerns the use of a piezo-acoustic system to detect a "keypress"; the URL you provided describes a product which relies upon an optical system.
          Stricly speaking, the guy was answering a post about typing on a full-size keyboard on Starbucks tables.
          That could be done with the laser keyboard, more than 5 yearss ago at the prototype level, and some time later as a commercial product.
    • Yeah, but you already can buy a roll keyboard. You would need something to be able to SEE where the keys were. Hence, a LASER keyboard like the one at thinkgeek. Much more "Im Cool , you SUCK" factor from Starbucks types. http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/ [virtual-la...yboard.com] Im thinking more Minority report with a BIG piece of tempered glass and a projector.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mikael ( 484 )
        Even simpler, just have a sheet of glass/perspex engraved with the keyboard letters [three-fives.com]. Easy to wipe clean and maintain - no moving parts.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Firehed ( 942385 )
          This is just speculating, but I'd bet that a no-moving-parts keyboard would not only be really strange to type on (no tactile feedback) but probably even worse as far as carpal-tunnel and other RSI-type injuries go - your fingers are going to be smacking a hard surface a thousand times rather than something a bit springier. Just drum your fingers on a table for a few seconds and then repeat on a keyboard, and see which one makes your fingers more sore.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by mikael ( 484 )
            I'll agree with you there - back in the 1980's the first home computers came out. One guy at our electronics club got a ZX80 [seraphin.free.fr] (the white computer with a flat keyboard), while another guy at our computer club had an Atari 400 [vintage-computer.com]. When I had the chance to use these systems, I would end up having pins and needles in my finger tips after less than an hour. Fortunately, my Dad agreed on buying a computer with a full size keyboard to learn touch-typing.
          • I don't know about this. Unlike most other flat keyboards, something that detected the slightest touch doesn't seem like it should stress your fingers very much. You don't need to "smack" the hard surface with your fingertips, after all, just a slight tap will do. The flesh on your fingertips should be a sufficient shock absorber. This is different from a conventional keyboard where your fingers have to exert significant force to push the keys down; here the springs inside the keys are useful not just f
          • I agree about keyboard use... I see this as more of a touch screen replacement, or an audio mixer's dream! Notice that you can have multiple points sensed at the same time... this could be great for any 2-D scrubber application, including graphical art, volume/frequency shifting, scroll/zoom, virtual percussion instruments, etc.

            I do wonder what this could do when coupled with those suction cups that make a flat surface into a stereo speaker though ;)

  • vibration (Score:4, Interesting)

    by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:04AM (#17033604) Homepage
    I'd be interested in knowing what would happen when someone turned on the radio and they started playing GWAR...
  • Hospitals are dirty becuase they outsource their cleaning to companies that employ mostly low paid, un(der)trained staff.

    • Hospitals are dirty becuase they outsource their cleaning to companies that employ mostly low paid, un(der)trained staff.

      So, according to you, an entity cannot be "low paid" and "clean." Right? But I can assure you that when death is demanding a visit to your household, you will not think of the "cleanliness" you appear to crave.

      On the other hand I have an issue with the headline. Consider:

      A video shows it in action [.wmv].

      When shall we have a video in an Open Source format like .ogg? If slashdot cou

      • When shall we have a video in an Open Source format like .ogg? If slashdot could transform the videos to open source formats before posting the stories, this could be a very welcome development.
        When? Likely never. Why? That video is copyrighted by someone and you can't just legally copy it, transcode it, and serve it up yourself.

        Now if a slashsdot editor went to the trouble of requesting permission to host the video (the benefit to the video owner is to stave off /. effect) with the condition they can transcode into an open source format...then maybe. But when was the last time you saw a /. editor willing to validate, proofread, or desensationalize a story let alone contact someone, ask for permission, download, transcode, and host a video? Back to never again. :)
        • What is that I don't get is why not just publish the thing to Google or Youtube. Not only would that make it easier for everyone to view (except for those old folks who hate flash regardless of the fact it can be run on Win, OS X, and Linux without fighting over Divx, WMV, or Quicktime codecs), but it would also save them an arm and a leg with bandwidth costs.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by OneSmartFellow ( 716217 )
        So, according to you, an entity cannot be "low paid" and "clean."
        That is not what I said.
        please re-read my post.

        But I can assure you that when death is demanding a visit to your household, you will not think of the "cleanliness" you appear to crave.

        I refuse to die in a hospital. Hospitals are full of sick people, and a sizable majority that are admitted, die there. A significant percentage of those that die in hospital would have survived had they stayed at home.

        I eschew drugs unless as an absol

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by bogado ( 25959 )

          So, according to you, an entity cannot be "low paid" and "clean."
          That is not what I said.
          please re-read my post.

          But I can assure you that when death is demanding a visit to your household, you will not think of the "cleanliness" you appear to crave.

          I refuse to die in a hospital. Hospitals are full of sick people, and a sizable majority that are admitted, die there. A significant percentage of those that die in hospital would have survived had they stayed at home.

          While I don't know if this statement is true or not, however the question you should be asking is how many people died at home that would not have died if they were in a hospital.

          I eschew drugs unless as an absolute last resort, unlike so many Westerners these days who seem quite happy to self medicate with OTC concoctions at the least symptom and turn to the doctor for prescription medication to cure everything from a head-ache, insomnia, fatigue, and malaise to spoiled children, when usually all that is needed is a good diet, exercise, fresh air and hard work, and in the case of spoiled children, a firm hand.

          On this I agree with you. :-)

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by SoapDish ( 971052 )
      Because it's much easier to clean a flat surface rather than a keyboard, or even a mouse.

    • Re:And this contributes to cleaner hospitals how ? (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Whatever the touchable surface is, it will have germs.

      And NOT because of the poorly paid staff.

      The source of germs in hospitals is SICK PEOPLE. Come on folks, how long are we going to let these sickos with their sniffles and oozing infections dirty up our hospitals ? I think we need a fence, and strick jail-the-ill legislation with no possibility of parole.
      • yeah, I guess the idea is that it's easier to sterilize a flat desk surface than a traditional keyboard. However, I avoid touching keyboards/mice in hospital / public situations as much as possible, but I might be more likely to mistakenly put my donut right on a surface that is actually someone's acoustic keyboard area. Furthermore, if hospitals really were interested in keeping keyboards sterile, there certainly have been ways to go about this (think 2second bleach rag wipedown of your speak n' spell ke
    • While this point may be true in some cases, it's only part of the issue. There is a significant difference between dirty and unsterile. Cleanliness isn't the real problem, it's sterility.

      It is far easier to sterilize a flat durable solid surface than something convuluted and fragile like a keyboard. So, this is a great thing. And of course it has so many many many more applications too.
    • The best-paid, best-trained cleaning staff in the world isn't going to be able to get all the germs out of every nook and cranny of a keyboard. By contrast, even the lowest-paid, least-trained cleaners can probably figure out how to wipe down a flat, seamless desk with disinfectant.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by sshutt ( 785646 )
        And the majority of cleaners will clean around a computer, and not even move a keyboard to clean under never mind clean any part of it.
        I don't know why this is, but its either because they've been asked not to, its their policy or they're just too scared in case they break something.

        So like you said a flat desk is much easier, and it will actually get done
        • After the cleaners visit our offices there's a good few hours of calls regarding broken keyboards/mice/monitors/PCs. Generally just cables pulled - but the state on LCDs after a being subjected to cleaning fluids designed for CRTs numerous times is not pretty. For that reason, they are banned from entering our lab.

          We've raised the issue, changed cleaning firms - all the same.
          • It's been my experience that cleaning people use the same dirty rag to clean your monitor that they just used to clean the last 10 dirty desks.
    • Underpaid staff is not the only problem. I remember having read that doctor's neckties were nice contamination vector for several kind of germs, but this is as offtopic as your point.

  • Corners? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SpeedBump0619 ( 324581 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:06AM (#17033626)
    Did anyone else notice that the video doesn't show then using the corners of the touchable region? I'm curious whether the system is reliable when one sensor is very close to the source of the vibrations.

  • Space Invaders (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:07AM (#17033656) Homepage Journal
    "The whole surface of your desk could become your keyboard and mouse-pad."

    The video and descriptions show only a flat surface of a 3D object. All real objects are 3D, but few have empty flat surfaces across their entire working area.

    Will this thing work with the 3D surface of my cluttered desk? I doubt it will track the position of my fingertips on a piece of paper after I've picked it up from the desk, without sensors attached to the paper.

    When these sonar sensors can actually track objects inside a 3D volume, not just across a surface in 3D space, they'll have made a major leap in UI. Until then, I don't see how these sensors are different from the touchscreen bezels mounted on monitors for years, except they've figured out how to discard the frame, and supposedly do without calibration.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by PartPricer ( 975066 )
      Let's hope that this thing can be adapted to work on all 3D surfaces. Imagine cybersex where you can have both hands on the keyboard.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by farker haiku ( 883529 )
      All real objects are 3D

      Um, like shadows? Or are shadows not real?
      • Shadows are real, but they're not objects. They're an absence of light traveling from an object.

        Now, if you'd tried "all real objects are 4D", you might have something. Though really objects are fractal, as time isn't even an integer dimension.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by profplump ( 309017 )
        Shadows are 3D, you just only see the edge -- I'd include the entire space from the dark side of the light-blocking object to the surface on which you observe the shadow as part of the shadow, as any object in that space would reveal the shadow. You could even argue that shadows continue indefinately beyond the surface on which you observe them, as any objects along that path would similarly be shadowed.

        But I'd also agree with others that shadows are no more objects than radio waves.

  • I see a potential problem... (Score:4, Funny)

    by EzraSj ( 993720 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:08AM (#17033660)
    This is clear discrimination against Ninjas, who obviously don't make a sound even when playing a round of quake.
  • I've already seen laser keyboards that spread over a flat surface for PDAs. I wonder how they sense where you are typing, but now that I think about it, I would like to have a silent keyboard. I just wonder how difficult it is to type when you can't get a physical feel for the keyboard.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Abcd1234 ( 188840 )
      Well, I'd imagine it would be a trivial task to build a small, textured rubber keyboard template that could be placed on a desk, thus providing the necessary tactile feedback. Make it dishwasher safe, and voila, you have a cheap, easy-to-sterilize keyboard.
      • Sorta like the VIK? [usbgeek.com]. All it needs is to be tweaked so you can autoclave it :D

        -WS

        • Something like that. However, the advantage of a template and a table-keyboard is that the template need not have any sensitive electronics in it. This means you can build it out of a tough synthetic of some type which could, as you say, be run through an autoclave, exposed to harsh chemicals, etc.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by EMeta ( 860558 )
      The laser keyboards, while cool, are actually very annoyingly inaccurate. You can sorta set them up to give them an optimal read pattern, but you still get mistaken entries unless your fingers move in a very very rigid way. Because of mistakes they tend to be considerably slower than even thumpads used one-handed (and I'm not even that good with them).

  • A boost to furniture makers? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by howlatthemoon ( 718490 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:12AM (#17033702)
    So what happens when these are built into the furniture and the "mouse" goes bad? Will you need to buy a new desk?
  • "We could have a keyboard drawn onto the desks that would work perfectly and could be disinfected much more easily."


    Yeah, or you could have a membrane keyboard, like they do at fast food restaurant cash registers. If the solution already exists, and has existed for decades, why hasn't it been implemented? So some high-dollar high-tech overkill solution can be found instead?
    • Maybe because hospitals have more complex data entry needs than "Combo #3 with Fries"? I work for a medical systems vendor, efficiency is vital to these organizations, both for patient care and for their bottom line. There's no way in the world a radiologist would be willing to enter reports on the kind of keyboard you're talking about.
      • Maybe because hospitals have more complex data entry needs than "Combo #3 with Fries"? I work for a medical systems vendor, efficiency is vital to these organizations, both for patient care and for their bottom line. There's no way in the world a radiologist would be willing to enter reports on the kind of keyboard you're talking about.

        And they'd be willing to enter reports on an essentially flat surface with even *less* tactile feedback than a membrane board?

        -b.

    • So some high-dollar high-tech overkill solution can be found instead?

      "High-dollar"? What part of "cheap acoustic sensors" did you not understand?

      Meanwhile, here's a link for a membrane keyboard [hazardousa...tstore.com] designed to be chemically resistant and easy sterilized. $545 doesn't seem terribly cheap to me.
    • You can't get a plastic keyboard clean enough, often enough, no matter how hard you try. Someone will breathe on it or touch it constantly. But a flat surface, ceramic or steel, can be rubbed down with alcohol in seconds.

  • Is it really practical? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Aneirin ( 701613 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:15AM (#17033756)
    This is not the first keyboard implementation without a physical keyboard. There have been others that use optics which would be a lot more reliable since accoustics change with simple things such as background noise, the shape of the room, and even the surface being used. The big issue is whether people are comfortable using it. When other implementations have come up, people just didnt like the feel of hitting the solid material. Most slashdotters probably spend a bit of time figuring out what keyboard "feels" best to them just as people do with mattresses. However, I highly doubt anyone has an ideal keyboard that gives no tactile response. Although it may seem simple to change this precedence, I would note the USAs insistance on not using metric, and the fact that we still use QWERTY keyboards that were designed to be inefficient so that typewriters would not jam. I just don't see this past a niche market.
    • No, it's not the first, but it's important for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it's cheaper, piezo electric sensors are cheap and other solutions like I-Tech's Virtual Laser Keyboard [virtual-la...yboard.com] are not ($180).
    • > would note the USAs insistance on not using metric, and the fact that we still use QWERTY keyboards that were designed to be inefficient so that typewriters would not jam. I just don't see this past a niche market.

      Let me say that this is... well... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrjwaqZfjIY [youtube.com]
      It's an urban legend. Read it on Wikipadia...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mungtor ( 306258 )
      1. Metric sounds like a nice idea, but really isn't in practice. With 12 inches in a foot you can divide it by 2, 3, and 4 without endlessly repeating decimals (and the need to make a 1/3 meter mark on the stick just in case). Base 10 lets you divide by 2 and 5, with not much call to divide things in fifths.

      2. QWERTY was not designed to be inefficient, but it was designed so that typewriters didn't jam. Ultimately, not having to stop to free stuck keys made typists _more_ efficent.

      Hopefully you're fro
      • With 12 inches in a foot you can divide it by 2, 3, and 4 without endlessly repeating decimals
        By that reasoning, maybe we should shift the entire number system to base 12 and have done with it. Or do you think that counting in 10s is a bit easier?
        • Counting in twelves would be just as easy if the number system was base twelve. The only reason counting in tens is easy is because it's counting in ones, with a zero on the end. This would also be the case in a base twelve system.

          Frankly, moving to a base twelve system is only a bad idea because everyone already knows and thinks in base ten.

          Try cutting a pizza into ten slices. Now try cutting it into twelve. Which is easier?

          Historically, we've used base twelve numbering quite a lot - which is, of course, w

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mungtor ( 306258 )
          10 is only easier if you count with your fingers. If you can break free of that, you can count in any base you want. Doing math in hexidecimal is tough due to lack of practice, but certainly not impossible.
  • Two or more sensors are attached around the edges of the surface. These pinpoint the position of a finger, or another touching object, by tracking minute vibrations.


    Very cool idea, I wonder how well it deals with ambient mechanical noise? Just think, you set down your coffee cup and a mysterious message appears telling you to "follow the white rabbit" or perhaps some indecipherable gibberish like "411 uR b42e R 0wnz3rd" or something.

  • Idea (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:19AM (#17033816)
    Couldn't you combine this with a projector to make a wall you can "paint"? Could be great fun.

    Great for kids too - finger painting on the wall without making a mess.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mcrbids ( 148650 )
      Couldn't you combine this with a projector to make a wall you can "paint"? Could be great fun.

      Great for kids too - finger painting on the wall without making a mess.

      Except that you'd be missing a key element to childhood development - the mess!

      People don't think in pure abstracts. Understanding concepts like mass, volume, friction, etc come from a "gut level" understanding that stems from our experiences with these things. The more firmly these ideas are grasped, (through childhood play) the easier these a
      • Wow. What a negative rant to a fun idea.

        Except that you'd be missing a key element to childhood development - the mess!

        Perhaps you are assuming that I meant my "painting light on walls" idea should replace all other childhood activities? I never said that. Perhaps rather than being negative about it you might consider how this might be a different experience for children that they might benefit from in other ways.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mcrbids ( 148650 )
          Perhaps you are assuming that I meant my "painting light on walls" idea should replace all other childhood activities? I never said that.

          There are 24 hours in a day. You are doing /SOMETHING/ during each of those hours, even if vegetating on a sofa.

          So how do you propose introducing some "childhood activity" of limited value without displacing "other childhood activities" which have provable, demonstrable, lasting value? (EG: the sand pit, a box of blocks or Legos, tempera paints - good stuff happens there!)
          • So how do you propose introducing some "childhood activity" of limited value without displacing "other childhood activities" which have provable, demonstrable, lasting value? (EG: the sand pit, a box of blocks or Legos, tempera paints - good stuff happens there!)

            You assume that this activity would be of limited value. You don't know that.

            I am not disagreeing with your belief that playing in the sandpit, with paints,etc. are very valuable. They are.

            What I don't understand is why you seem to believe that this

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by mcrbids ( 148650 )
              What you are proposing is little more than Windows paint - only without even the positive feedback of a screen behind it.

              So I ask you: What value can you concieve of that is in any way "educational"?

              For that matter, how is this functionally different than, say, a Wacom board? They've been around for a long, long time...
              • So I ask you: What value can you concieve of that is in any way "educational"?

                Ok, so it is inconceiveable to you that painting light onto a wall with your hands could be a fun and educational activity for kids. You believe in limiting your kids' experience to a set of activities that you believe to be educational. Poor kids.
              • I thought the whole concept was based on the wall being a large screen.
                Maybe instead of Windows Paint, they could have a wall sized version of Photoshop and Illustrator -- only easier to use for kids. :)
      • Ever look at their shop? It's forever a MESS! Half-constructed doo-dads all over the place! Messes aren't just not bad, they are frequently a good indicator that something real is actually taking place!
        Only Adam likes the mess. It pisses Jamie off. I do agree that messes are great, and that parents should encourage that raw unstructured experimentation. Look back, or around, to the greatest scientists and engineers, and you'll find messy tinkerers.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Salmar ( 991564 )

      Couldn't you combine this with a projector to make a wall you can "paint"? Could be great fun.

      Great for kids too - finger painting on the wall without making a mess.

      How freaky! I was just thinking of a paint-less paint wall even before I read the article. Although, I'm not sure that this technology would be the best option, since it can only track two positions. Imagine a swarm of tots flailing their hands across the virtual canvas, while only one or two kids are actually affecting the projected image.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zobier ( 585066 )
      Philips Paint Bucket [youtube.com]

  • LCARS (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Combined with a flat monitor as the desk, this is Star Trek LCARS right there. Re-configurable at the touch of a button, your keyboard /mouse can be anything. And this doesn't cost hundreds for OLED keys either.

    Count me in when they have a big keyboard working for this. But if it's acoustics, how do you get a key-repeat?

  • Not exactly new (Score:5, Informative)

    by Pig Hogger ( 10379 ) <pig.hogger@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:25AM (#17033898) Journal
    It's not an exactly new method.

    Some 20 years ago, when electronic daisywheel typewriters were starting to take over, Smith-Corona/Marchant came out with a novel way to keep using their mechanical typewriter tooling. They used a conventional mechanical keyboard, where the keys stuck a bar of steel with a piezoelectric sensor at either end.

    The delay between the time the impulse reached each sensor enabled a microprocessor to pinpoint exactly where the bar was impacted, and thus deduce which key was pressed.

    That's basically the same principle applied, but in three dimensions.

  • wrong way (Score:2, Insightful)

    by John_3000 ( 166166 )
    A better way to improve keyboard hygiene in hospitals would be for everyone to have his own personal keyboard, operated by the hand that holds it and carried in a pocket, wireless of course. Something like mine at chordite.com :-)

    But what hospitals really need is a way to sterilize hands up to the elbows in about 3 seconds. Think of boxes in the halls with holes you stick your arms into. When you press a foot pedal the boxes somehow magically *poof* and you're clean. Not perfectly clean of course but as c
    • No, you're dead wrong. Each person having their own personal keyboard would mean they're carrying them around all the time, including when they interact with patients. It's bad enough that communal keyboards in hospitals are a germ warren right now, but introducing a situation where hospital staff bring their germ-laden keyboards into close contact with patients, that's even worse.
      • Well, I'm thinking that as staff acquired more skill with their personal keyboards, they'd develop rules, like "leave the keyboard in your pocket during the visitation" and "don't rub the keyboard on the wound."

        Voice recognition still has problems, e.g., it's relatively power hungry and noise sensitive. It's also not private enough.
        • They already have rules about things like personal sterilization, and they get violated all the time. How do you think staph transfers from patient to patient?

          Fact is, the minute you rely solely on personal habits to solve these kinds of issues, you're in for a world of hurt.
    • A better way to improve keyboard hygiene in hospitals would be for everyone to have his own personal keyboard, operated by the hand that holds it and carried in a pocket, wireless of course.

      Better yet, speech recognition with disposable mics.

      -b.

    • the roll-up "indestructable keyboard" comes to mind. I think there is also a mouse made the same way. Something like it could be easily sterilized nightly, and maybe with a UV light on it during the day it could stay put. Or maybe they need regular disposable keyboard/mouse subscriptions. There's something humorous about tossing the keyboard in the biohazard disposal bin.

  • Keyboards and drinks have always been natural enemies. O yes, being able to whipe your desk IS going to be easier than to clean a keyboard, and I'll be thankfull JUST for that. But enemies they will stay.... I can just look forward to colleges placing their coffee mug on the reboot corner of my desk.

    -ph .. who was forced to clean tomato juice off a very dusty keyboard once!
  • 1. Take an existing technology
    2. Adapt it for use in health care.
    3. Profit!

    Seriously, though... any would-be inventors would be wise to keep that in mind. If you think the Pentagon overpays for a toliet seat, wait to you see what a hospital spends on one.

  • Roland patented and employed a suspiciously similar tech years ago for their V-Drum electronic percussion system [rolandus.com]. Perhaps Roland's patents only apply to musical instruments, but the concept of deriving placement and distance from piezo electric sensors is nothing new.

  • Sorry, researchers, but...... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Solder Fumes ( 797270 ) on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:37AM (#17034160)
    Elo Touchsystems / Tyco already has a product out there that works exactly this way...and a myriad of patents. Acoustic Pulse Recognition: http://media.elotouch.com/pdfs/marcom/apr_wp.pdf [elotouch.com]

    It's a relatively new product but it's already way past the research stage and well into production.
  • We already have tons and tons of keyboards and many ways of manifesting them (see the laser keyboard and membrane keyboard noted above). What about customizable interfaces? As an artist and quasi-musician I am particularly interested in being able to customize my sonar interface to be implemented across my desktop as a personally intuitive keyboard, canvas, whatever.
  • ... play FPS with my airsoft gun (using these and some perspex in from of the screen)

  • So what happens... (Score:3, Funny)

    by thePowerOfGrayskull ( 905905 ) <marc...paradise@@@gmail...com> on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @11:53AM (#17034436) Homepage Journal
    when someone bumps my desk?asldku o0q3ueoaufhaslkfhslr8yrlkZDBSKDfjg24kadj fopwea5 948a a;ljkfh ap085u;dIAsdl;h;oduY*()~#)98UWO;ERIUWE;LKJ W;ELRI EW DAMN IT!
  • Now it's at...yes, yes...no, still 3KB a second.
  • Seems like I could hide a gadget under a desk that could tell what you were writing on it. Or what keys you were pressing on a keyboard resting on it. Or what they're writing on the whiteboard on the shared wall.

    Of course I'd just use it so I could tell what my employees were IM-ing during the meetings, but my first thought was not cleaner keyboards.
  • Anybody here ever use a machine with the "chicklet" style keys, or worse yet, a "membrane" style keyboard? Personally, I remember getting unhappy with my first TRS-80 within about two minutes, once I got my hands on that @!*#& keyboard! For hunt-'n'-peck'ers, This'll be just fine; but for those of us from the world of the ten-fingered (touch-typists), it'll be useless.

    Then again, it might be useful in certain niche applications - hospitals (as TFA suggests), shop floors (where most users aren't touch

  • Pressure Sensetive? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by skorch ( 906936 )
    It looks interesting, but I wonder if it can be pressure sensetive (i.e. can detect how hard one is pressing on the surface based on the vibrations). I'm thinking of the artistic applications for this as a way to replace expensive Wacom tablets that come in set sizes of just a few inches with a single product that can be set up to simulate a canvas of any size. But in order for that to be a practical replacement for most artists, it would need to be able to sense the force being applied to the surface (for
    • It looks interesting, but I wonder if it can be pressure sensetive

      Well, given it works by accoustic localization, the answer is probably 'no'.
      • It looks interesting, but I wonder if it can be pressure sensetive

        Well, given it works by accoustic localization, the answer is probably 'no'.

        But it could be impact sensitive fairly easily. You might need to calibrate the surface to establish an even impact response across the entire area. This would be interesting for experimental musical implementations. You could switch instruments fairly easily too - I often practice piano on the edge of my desk and who hasn't dragged out the pencils and played out

  • Main problem with this is fighting the noise. The limitation on areas and input devices has a positive effect of reducing noise.

    When garcon will close couple of your applications by serving your latte you will know.
  • The first two shapes drawn in the video begin with a distinct rap to the geometric centre of the surface. In fact, there are markings on the surface showing where the centre is. (The last two shapes aren't shown from the very beginning).

    It could be that the system has a harder time distinguishing the start of a stroke than it does staying "locked on" during a stroke. Once it's locked on, possible signals that are very close to the last known position could be weighted much higher than signals arising just a

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