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Acoustic Sensors Make Any Surface a Touch Pad

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-isn't-that-keen dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Using cheap acoustic sensors the surface of any 3D object can be instantly made into a touch-sensitive interface capable of tracking two objects at once. Its creators are planning to make hospitals more hygienic — keyboards and mice will be replaced by desks wired to perform as keyboards and touchpads. A video shows it in action [.wmv]."

5 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Re:And this contributes to cleaner hospitals how ? by SoapDish · · Score: 2, Informative

    Because it's much easier to clean a flat surface rather than a keyboard, or even a mouse.

  2. Re:And this contributes to cleaner hospitals how ? by MasterC · · Score: 3, Informative
    When shall we have a video in an Open Source format like .ogg? If slashdot could transform the videos to open source formats before posting the stories, this could be a very welcome development.
    When? Likely never. Why? That video is copyrighted by someone and you can't just legally copy it, transcode it, and serve it up yourself.

    Now if a slashsdot editor went to the trouble of requesting permission to host the video (the benefit to the video owner is to stave off /. effect) with the condition they can transcode into an open source format...then maybe. But when was the last time you saw a /. editor willing to validate, proofread, or desensationalize a story let alone contact someone, ask for permission, download, transcode, and host a video? Back to never again. :)
    --
    :wq
  3. Not exactly new by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 4, Informative
    It's not an exactly new method.

    Some 20 years ago, when electronic daisywheel typewriters were starting to take over, Smith-Corona/Marchant came out with a novel way to keep using their mechanical typewriter tooling. They used a conventional mechanical keyboard, where the keys stuck a bar of steel with a piezoelectric sensor at either end.

    The delay between the time the impulse reached each sensor enabled a microprocessor to pinpoint exactly where the bar was impacted, and thus deduce which key was pressed.

    That's basically the same principle applied, but in three dimensions.

  4. Sounds like old tech to me by frequnkn · · Score: 2, Informative

    Roland patented and employed a suspiciously similar tech years ago for their V-Drum electronic percussion system. Perhaps Roland's patents only apply to musical instruments, but the concept of deriving placement and distance from piezo electric sensors is nothing new.

  5. Sorry, researchers, but...... by Solder+Fumes · · Score: 4, Informative

    Elo Touchsystems / Tyco already has a product out there that works exactly this way...and a myriad of patents. Acoustic Pulse Recognition: http://media.elotouch.com/pdfs/marcom/apr_wp.pdf

    It's a relatively new product but it's already way past the research stage and well into production.