Magic Finger Turns Any Surface Into a Touch Interface 47
cylonlover writes "A trip on public transport or to the local coffee shop might give the impression that touchscreens are everywhere, but scientists at Autodesk Research of the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto are looking to take the ubiquity of touch interfaces to the next level. They are developing a 'Magic Finger' that allows any surface to detect touch input by shifting the touch technology from the surface to the wearer's finger. It's a proof-of-concept prototype made up of a little Velcro ring that straps to the wearer's fingertip with a trail of wires leading to a box of electronics. On the ring there are a pair of optical sensors. One is a low resolution, high-speed sensor for tracking movement, the other a high-resolution camera, which is able to detect 32 different surface textures with 98 percent accuracy."
prior art? (Score:5, Interesting)
I seem to remember manufacturers of optical mice making such bold claims as being able to track on glass. This is just an optical mouse without the plastic case.
What about Leap and similar tech? (Score:5, Interesting)
This makes as little sense in the modern age as those "virtual reality" helmets we're all supposed to be using by now.
Companies like Leap are making much more advanced technology that requires nothing attached to your hand and uses motion sensors to track your hand movements with incredible precision. Comparatively, this guy's mouse-finger contraption looks as silly as Doc's brain-wave reader in BttF.
(I don't represent Leap, I just remember hearing about their tech awhile back.)
not so new (Score:4, Interesting)
bought a finger mouse on ebay few years ago, although it was not as sophisticated this this one, it was very similar.