Imagine being able to turn up the volume of your music while you run without even touching your phone or headphones. Or receive messages on the way and turn on their pronunciation, without being distracted from the road. Modern technology may soon make it real. Where can you use the fingertip control?
Technology at your fingertips
The QWERTY typewriter was invented in 1872 and since then, tapping on the keyboard or screen has become the standard way of interacting with digital technology. But this is far from always convenient or safe, therefore, new contactless methods are being developed that will allow you to control gadgets without additional devices.
Hollywood movies often feature protagonists who manipulate computer data with ease with the touch of their fingers. A few years ago it seemed to us fantastic, but now devices are widely available that allow you to perform some operations using gestures. Such technologies can be useful both in everyday life and in the field of medicine or production.
“Today, we interact with computers not only at our desks, but also while running, on the subway or in the car,” explains Dr. Sean Vollmer, an expert on human interaction with computer technology at Stanford University. “Many mobile computing devices, such as smartwatches or even virtual reality glasses, do not have large surfaces to accommodate a keyboard or mouse. Therefore, we need to create new input devices that will allow us to issue commands on the fly."
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Radar
One such device is radar. Many of us associate it with airplanes or measuring the speed of cars. But Google's Project Soli changed the concept of radar a bit and made a miniature device that can recognize human gestures. The technology is so precise that it can distinguish even the smallest hand movements.
Professor Aaron Quigley, Chairman of SACHI, says: "The main problem we had to solve is that the energy that bounces off objects is a surprisingly complex signal." At the moment, scientists are developing artificial intelligence that will be able to filter and recognize such signals. If experts from Google succeed in implementing their plans, then the technology can be used for the blind and people with disabilities. It can also be used in security systems that will determine in a matter of seconds whether something has been stolen from the house.
Ultrasonic signals
Sound can also be used for contactless control of gadgets. For example, Ultrahaptics technology uses ultrasonic signals - waves at frequencies above the range of human hearing - that can distinguish between gestures. The so-called “tactile technology” creates the feeling of pressing a button or turning a dial without touching anything. This is because the sound waves create a strong vibration that gives the impression of a hard surface.
But at the moment there is one problem - not a single computer has enough power to cope with such tasks quickly and efficiently. Tom Carter, one of the Ultrahaptics developers, says: “Our first prototype took 20 minutes to complete one computation on the most expensive PC we could buy. This means that if you move your hand, you have to wait 20 minutes for the operation to be processed by the computer,”he says. Not very interactive.
Where can contactless control be applied?
Why do we need contactless controls? At the moment, experts believe that drivers may need them. Mobile phones are increasingly affecting traffic safety, as people now and then pick them up in order to check mail or reply to messages. “Touchscreens will help reduce distractions. You just have to make a couple of gestures without even taking your eyes off the road,”says Dr. Carter.
Elliptic Labs says its software can turn smartphone speakers and microphones into ultrasonic sensors that allow users to select the track they want to listen to or take selfies with a simple gesture in the air.
Future technologies among us
“Our virtual smart sensor platform simply uses a microphone and speaker already built into the device to collect ultrasound data,” says CEO Laila Danielsen.
Ultrasonic signals can have a range of up to 5 meters and be generated at relatively low power, she said. She believes that in the next few years, every smartphone will be able to use ultrasound to recognize at least one gesture. The simplest example of such technology is turning on the light when a person enters the room.
Natalia Tikhomirova