Guest_Jim_* Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 From track pads to touchscreens, touch-based interfaces are around us every day, somehow improving how we connect and use a device. Sometimes our hands are filled though, or cannot reach for our phones or laptops, so some other solution is needed. Researchers at MIT may have come up with just such a solution by building a trackpad the size of a thumbnail. Named NailO, the device consists of a capacitive sensor and corresponding chip, microcontroller, Bluetooth radio, and small battery. At first the sensor was made of copper electrodes printed onto flexible polyester sheets, but later these were replaced with off-the-shelf sheets already used in some trackpads. All of these were designed to fit on our thumbnail, where a user can comfortable reach and use it. As the thumbnail is hard and lacks nerve endings, it can be affixed and used without causing any discomfort. Obviously the technology has applications for subtly controlling devices, but it will likely find other uses as well. It really depends on how we decide to interact with devices in the future. Source: MIT Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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