Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

"See-Through" Touchscreen Solves Fat Finger Problem

Posted by kdawson on from the eight-finger-salute dept.

Urchin sends along a New Scientist writeup on Microsoft Research's nanoTouch prototype, a way of operating a touch screen from the rear (video here). The prototype will be presented at the Computer and Human Interaction conference in Boston, Mass., in April 2009. Coming soon to a wristwatch or neck pendant near you. "Electronic devices have been shrinking for years, but you might be forgiven for thinking that one that's only a centimeter across would be just too difficult to operate. Microsoft Research's new nanoTouch device suggests otherwise. Touch-screens are difficult to control with any precision — the fingers get in the way of the tiny targets you're trying to hit. But putting the touch interface on the rear of the screen instead gives users more precision because they can still see the whole screen as they interact with it. Microsoft Research has produced a prototype device called nanoTouch with a rear-mounted touch interface. User tests show it lets users accurately and reliably hit targets just 2 millimeters across on a screen under a centimeter across."

14 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. I don't know about you... by Shadow7789 · · Score: 5, Funny

    but I don't like it when people operate things from the rear.

    1. Re:I don't know about you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      That's funny, I hear your mom likes it, hey-o!

    2. Re:I don't know about you... by spazdor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey guys, did you know that sometimes innocuous stuff can be rephrased in a way that suggests you're talking about sex?

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    3. Re:I don't know about you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      but I don't like it when people operate things from the rear.

      Especially if "fat fingers" are involved.

    4. Re:I don't know about you... by curtix7 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Like that innocuous night me and your mother spent together?

    5. Re:I don't know about you... by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 1, Funny

      That's what SHE said!!

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    6. Re:I don't know about you... by JCSoRocks · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's because according to the video, "rear control makes it more comfortable to use several fingers at once."

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    7. Re:I don't know about you... by Trogre · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dad?

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
  2. Re:You know what else solves the "fat finger probl by FinchWorld · · Score: 2, Funny
    The simpsons came up with a somewhat less painful solution.

    Operator: The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.

    --
    "I may be full of crap about this game, and I may be wrong, and that's fine." -Jack Thompson
  3. Re:I've never heard of this before. by CaptainPatent · · Score: 4, Funny

    but seriously...microsoft does some interesting stuff! The microsoft-hate that goes on around here is kindof silly.

    Blasphemer!

    I banish you from Slashdot, and you shall be sacrificed to the all-mighty penguin!

    --
    Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
  4. Re:Finally living up to their name by DogAlmity · · Score: 3, Funny

    Like the Fing-Longer?

  5. M$ see-through touchscreens not that impressive by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 4, Funny

    Google's already got working prototypes of see-thru fingers.

  6. Re:Finally living up to their name by Hatta · · Score: 5, Funny

    We're sorry, the fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  7. Re:I've never heard of this before. by TechForensics · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anyone want to guess how much better Microsoft would be with, say, Ballmer gone?

    Well, I think I can say for sure that if Ballmer left there'd almost certainly be more seats on the Board. But I kind of doubt he'd ever wind up losing the title of Chairman.

    --
    Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.