Acoustic Sensors Make Any Surface a Touch Pad

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]."

Comments

New PDA Feature?

[blaster151]

Hospitals? Not the first application that would have come to mind, but a little extra hygiene never hurt anyone. (Cue jokes about Slashdotters) I'm more interested in the portable computing applications. Does this mean that we could sit down at Starbucks, whip out a PDA equipped with this device, and have the table surface become a full-sized keyboard/mouse arrangement? That would be sweet!

Re:New PDA Feature?

[mikael]

I'll agree with you there - back in the 1980's the first home computers came out. One guy at our electronics club got a ZX80 (the white computer with a flat keyboard), while another guy at our computer club had an Atari 400. When I had the chance to use these systems, I would end up having pins and needles in my finger tips after less than an hour. Fortunately, my Dad agreed on buying a computer with a full size keyboard to learn touch-typing.

vibration

[TheSHAD0W]

I'd be interested in knowing what would happen when someone turned on the radio and they started playing GWAR...

Corners?

[SpeedBump0619]

Did anyone else notice that the video doesn't show then using the corners of the touchable region? I'm curious whether the system is reliable when one sensor is very close to the source of the vibrations.

Space Invaders

[Doc Ruby]

"The whole surface of your desk could become your keyboard and mouse-pad."

The video and descriptions show only a flat surface of a 3D object. All real objects are 3D, but few have empty flat surfaces across their entire working area.

Will this thing work with the 3D surface of my cluttered desk? I doubt it will track the position of my fingertips on a piece of paper after I've picked it up from the desk, without sensors attached to the paper.

When these sonar sensors can actually track objects inside a 3D volume, not just across a surface in 3D space, they'll have made a major leap in UI. Until then, I don't see how these sensors are different from the touchscreen bezels mounted on monitors for years, except they've figured out how to discard the frame, and supposedly do without calibration.

Re:Laser Keyboard

[Abcd1234]

Well, I'd imagine it would be a trivial task to build a small, textured rubber keyboard template that could be placed on a desk, thus providing the necessary tactile feedback. Make it dishwasher safe, and voila, you have a cheap, easy-to-sterilize keyboard.

Idea

[pubjames]

Couldn't you combine this with a projector to make a wall you can "paint"? Could be great fun.

Great for kids too - finger painting on the wall without making a mess.

Re:Idea

[mcrbids]

Couldn't you combine this with a projector to make a wall you can "paint"? Could be great fun.

Great for kids too - finger painting on the wall without making a mess.

Except that you'd be missing a key element to childhood development - the mess!

People don't think in pure abstracts. Understanding concepts like mass, volume, friction, etc come from a "gut level" understanding that stems from our experiences with these things. The more firmly these ideas are grasped, (through childhood play) the easier these advanced concepts are later on in life.

Ironically, in our push to have more "highly educated" kids by starting earlier, we're actually making it more difficult to have "highly educated" adults! Research performed in Australia backs this up - starting formalized education later improves the kid's performance later in life.

By keeping kids in the relatively sterile and regimented classroom early, they miss the real learning they would get from play. Finland, for example, doesn't begin schooling of any kind until the kids are 7 years old, and quit when the child is just 16. So why do they have one of the top-rated education systems in the world? Somehow they manage to perform significantly better, even though we spend almost 50% more time at it.

Isn't it nice to know that you spent twice as much time as you could have, in order to achieve an inferior education?

As one more example - ever watch MythBusters? It's a great show, where they challenge myths with rudimentary science. Lots of fun, and lots of education about physics, mechanics, and so on.

Ever look at their shop? It's forever a MESS! Half-constructed doo-dads all over the place! Messes aren't just not bad, they are frequently a good indicator that something real is actually taking place!

LCARS

[Anonymous Coward]

Combined with a flat monitor as the desk, this is Star Trek LCARS right there. Re-configurable at the touch of a button, your keyboard /mouse can be anything. And this doesn't cost hundreds for OLED keys either.

Count me in when they have a big keyboard working for this. But if it's acoustics, how do you get a key-repeat?

Re:And this contributes to cleaner hospitals how ?

[OneSmartFellow]

So, according to you, an entity cannot be "low paid" and "clean."
That is not what I said.
please re-read my post.

But I can assure you that when death is demanding a visit to your household, you will not think of the "cleanliness" you appear to crave.

I refuse to die in a hospital. Hospitals are full of sick people, and a sizable majority that are admitted, die there. A significant percentage of those that die in hospital would have survived had they stayed at home.

I eschew drugs unless as an absolute last resort, unlike so many Westerners these days who seem quite happy to self medicate with OTC concoctions at the least symptom and turn to the doctor for prescription medication to cure everything from a head-ache, insomnia, fatigue, and malaise to spoiled children, when usually all that is needed is a good diet, exercise, fresh air and hard work, and in the case of spoiled children, a firm hand.