SKINPUT TECHNOLOGY



Touch screens may be popular both in science fiction and real life as the symbol of next-gen technology, but an innovation called Skinput suggests the true interface of the future might be us “Skinput” turns body into touch screen interface. The founders of this great technology  is Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University. By the way, what do skinput technology mean?....

  •          Skinput is a technology that appropriates human body for acoustic transmission, enabling the skin to be utilized as an input surface.
  •          This technology allows human hand and arm as touch screens, by sensing various low-frequency vibrations and sounds that are generated by touching different part of the hand or arm.
  •          These signals are sensed using various sensors worn on the arm in the form of arm band.

"The arm band is a crude prototype, the next generation could be made considerably smaller – likely easily fitting into a wristwatch."

From there it's fairly simple to associate those tappable areas with different commands in an interface, just as different keystrokes and mouse clicks  perform different functions on a computer.

WHAT MAKES IT WORK?

1.       PICO-PROJECTOR

2.       BIO-ACOUSTICS

3.       BLUETOOTH

 

  • In skinput, a keyboard, menu, or other graphics are beamed onto a user’s palm and forearm from a pico projector embedded in an armband.
  • An acoustic detector in the armband then determines which part of the display is activated by the user’s touch.
  • Their software matches sound frequencies to specific skin locations, allowing the system to determine which” skin button” the user pressed.

WORK FLOW:

1.       Projector display image on arm.

2.       Finger tap on arm.

3.       Vibrations produced and passed through bones onto skin.

4.       Detected by detector  in armband.

5.       Electronic signals produces in the form of music.



IMPLEMENTATION OF SKINPUT:

        PARALYZED OR PHYSICALLY DISABLED PERSON: This feature provides a projected graphical interface on the skin, so the person who is paralyzed or disabled they can use it easily like making a call, playing game etc.

 

2.       EDUCATION: We can implement in education system like we can use calculator or browsing through a mobile phone.

 

3.       FINGERS AS CONTROL PAD OF GAME: Through skinput, we can play games with just the movement of our hands. This will introduce a totally new era of gaming.

 

4.       PHONECALL USING SKINPUT: It will be possible to make calls by just typing numbers that flash on your forearm. We can also increase or decrease the volume or change the track of the music players like i-pod without actually touching the gadget.

 

PROS:

·         Easy to access when your phone is not available.

·         Allows users to interact more personally with their device.

·         Larger buttons to reduce the risk of pressing the wrong buttons.

·         Through the use of a sense called proprioception after user learns where the locations are on the skin they will no longer have to look down to use Skinput reducing people looking down at their phone while driving.

·         It can be used for a more interactive gaming experience.

 

CONS:

  • \  Currently there are only five buttons. A phone uses at least 10 buttons to dial a phone number of send a text message.
  •         The easy accessibility will cause people to be more socially distracted.
  •          If the user has more than a 30% Body Mass Index Skinput is reduced to 80% accuracy.
  •          The visibility of the projection of the buttons on the skin can be reduced if the user has a tattoo located on their arm.

 

CONCLUSION:

Skinput could relay tapped commands to mobile devices or PCs via wireless technologies like Bluetooth. If this gadget ever becomes a commercial reality, it could redefine our perception of common gestures. Drumming our fingers nervously could actually be texting, for example,

while a slap to the forehead could launch a web browser. Extrapolating from the arm device, skinput could turn the whole body into one giant quivering, jumping, dancing interface. Also, with the addition of a Pico-projector to the armband, skinput could allow users to interact with a graphical user interface displayed directly on the skin make it more convenient and easier.

Keep exploring… Thanks for reading !!..Hope you liked this blog, share your thoughts and stay engaged for more blogs.

 

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