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"See-Through" Touchscreen Solves Fat Finger Problem

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."

4 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 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?

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      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    2. Re:I don't know about you... by curtix7 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Like that innocuous night me and your mother spent together?

  2. 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

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!