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Display System That Knows Who You Are

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the all-about-the-videogames dept.

lee1 writes "New Scientist reports on an 'interactive computer display that keeps track of multiple users by differentiating between their touch'. The system consists of a touch-sensitive screen that can be operated by several users simultaneously. When a user touches the screen an electrical signal is sent through their body and picked up by a receiver located in their chair, telling a computer precisely where the screen was touched and by whom. Applications could include system access control, safer vehicle controls, and smarter videogames. The bottom line, in the words of one of the inventors: 'If the controls know who is operating them, they can behave appropriately.' The movie even has funkier than average background music."

10 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Bad idea... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't think I want a screen that can scream to the rest of the office, "Oh, it's another dirty pervert looking at me again."

    1. Re:Bad idea... by Tackhead · · Score: 5, Funny
      > I don't think I want a screen that can scream to the rest of the office, "Oh, it's another dirty pervert looking at me again."

      "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were telecommuting or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of bedroom eyes, a habit of muttering to yourself, anything that carried with it the suggestion of looking at b00bies, or having something to hide from HR. In any case, to sport wood at the office, was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Cubespeak: pantcrime."

      - Little Sister, 1985

  2. Sigh by Yurka · · Score: 3, Funny

    Gone are the days of the generic PEBCAC - now computers will know exactly who is there between them and chairs.

    --
    I can assure you, the best way to get rid of dragons is to have one of your own.
  3. The Musical Chairs Problem by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When a user touches the screen an electrical signal is sent through their body and picked up by a receiver located in their chair, telling a computer precisely where the screen was touched and by whom.

    Of course the chair would also need to be able to read the RFID tag implanted in your butt to solve the Musical Chairs Problem.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    1. Re:The Musical Chairs Problem by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Maybe the system doesn't care that jim or bob is touching the screen, but rather that seat 1 or seat 3 is touching the screen. However, this also creates the problem that everyone must be sitting on a chair. Maybe they could just have something you stick on your finger tip, or have each user have a separate stylus. Would be a lot easier to implement than tranmitting the signal through the person, and hoping that they are sitting in the chair.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  4. Keep your fingers off by 9mm+Censor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Awesome. I would love a monitor that tracks who puts there fingers on my screen. So I know who's fingers to break when the muck my display up.

  5. Re:Great! by PFI_Optix · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do you suppose it's a threat to my pace--

    *FZZZZT*

    *THUMP*

    --
    120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
  6. Wait until Sony gets a hold of this.... by ip_freely_2000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...instead of allowing anyone using the computer to see and hear their DRM content, they can charge everyone who sits at the same person for the privilege.

    Oy vey.

  7. Warning Stickers by TavisJohn · · Score: 4, Funny

    And I can see the warning stickers now... "Do not use if you have a pacemaker or other heart condition." "Do not use during a lighting storm." "Please disscharge all static before you sit down and use the monitor." "Do not handle other electronic devices while using monitor, Damage or miss ID could occor." "Do not lick chair." "Do not use while wet." "Do not plug into a 220v outlet." (Yes we know it would be funy, but we can not be held responsible for any unwanted "Cooking")

  8. Re:Not a great example movie by electron_plumber · · Score: 3, Informative
    The boxes are in different colors - it's just hard to see. (We're researchers - not videographers!) Oh, and the spill was to show robustness. In the classic UIST video, an especially robust DiamondTouch is lit on fire (don't try this at home), and people continue to use it as the flames sizzle...

    In any case, DiamondTouch is not really new. It is already a product which you can buy today! The article in New Scientist was originally going to focus on DT Controls, which is very new. It uses the same idenity trick as DiamondTouch, but applies it to non-virtual controls, such as in an airplane cockpit or on an automobile dashboard. One of the killer apps is allowing a passenger to operate a vehicle navigation system while the car is moving. (Typically, the system is locked out to prevent use by the driver.) The system really only knows which seat the touch is coming from, so it's not particularly Orwellian...