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"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."

7 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?

      --
      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. I've never heard of this before. by Odinson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is first thing in a long time from Microsoft that has truly impressed me. Amazing what you can accomplish with a little fear of competition. If this is truly novel, nice job!

    --
    Novel theory: Modern Man evolved from psychopath
    1. Re:I've never heard of this before. by CaptainPatent · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is first thing in a long time from Microsoft that has truly impressed me. Amazing what you can accomplish with a little fear of competition. If this is truly novel, nice job!

      If you didn't read the article, all they did is put the touch sensitive portion on the back and have that activate a cursor on the front.

      At first I thought "Wow, that's a great idea"

      Then I thought "Duh, why didn't anyone else think of it?"

      Then I thought "Man, that's really limiting" - Imagine how slow typing would be on one of these devices. For each character you'd have to press to see the cursor, adjust for the actual location, then 'lock in' to press the button. Don't get me wrong, it's great for browsing and playing some games, but the Iphone's typing system would be better than this and an actual keyboard is still king.

      I do give some props to Microsoft though, I'm glad someone finally thought to do this.

      --
      Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
    2. Re:I've never heard of this before. by D+Ninja · · Score: 5, Informative

      That image compositing software is extremely awesome. If you'd like to learn more about it, check out this article.

  3. 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!