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NYU Researchers Create Cheap, Flexible Pressure-Based Interface

Posted by timothy on from the where-would-you-put-it? dept.

Al writes "A super-cheap, thin and flexible touch interface developed by researchers at New York University and could be used to add touch sensing to all sorts of gadgets and devices. It measures a change in electrical resistance when a person or object applies different pressure. The "Inexpensive Multi-Touch Pressure Acquisition Devices (IMPAD)" consists of two sheets of plastic containing parallel lines of electrodes. The sheets are arranged so that the electrodes cross, creating a grid and each intersection acts as a pressure sensor. The sheets are also covered with a layer of force-sensitive resistor (FSR) ink, a type of ink that has microscopic bumps on its surface. So, when something coated in the ink is pressed, the bumps move together and touch, conducting electricity."

35 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. LEPs where are you? by OMGcAPSLOCK · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Weren't Light Emitting Polymers supposed to have offered all of this about 10 years ago? Whatever happened to them?

    1. Re:LEPs where are you? by NeoSkandranon · · Score: 1

      They're about 10 years out from having a marketable product.

      --
      If you can't see the value in jet powered ants you should turn in your nerd card. - Dunbal (464142)
    2. Re:LEPs where are you? by hvm2hvm · · Score: 1

      I ate them all.

      --
      ics
    3. Re:LEPs where are you? by statusbar · · Score: 1

      Not only that, but I've designed products using a touch pad just like this back in 1989! It was a two-dimensional touch pad with a 68hc11 microcontroller in it which outputted MIDI to a synthesizer. The location of your touch determined the pitch and sound and the velocity of your touch determined the amplitude and the pressure afterwards determined the low frequency oscillator modulation. See a funny video of me playing it at http://www.turnercom.com/compositions-etc/Kit-100.html

      --jeffk++

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
  2. Yay! inexpensive... by happy_place · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and it's inexpensive... ...because they put the word "inexpensive" in the product name...

    --
    http://www.beanleafpress.com
    1. Re:Yay! inexpensive... by TinBromide · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You know that the first product is going to rebrand the "I" to mean "integrated" and charge $800 for the first device.

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      Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
  3. The power of suggestion by Thanshin · · Score: 1

    "could be used to add touch sensing to all sorts of gadgets and devices."

    He resisted the urge to add "(hint, hint)".

    1. Re:The power of suggestion by Anonymusing · · Score: 4, Funny

      Exactly. Think about clothing...

      "Hey baby, check out my new touch-sensitive digital pants. Let me see if you're wearing one of those touch-sensitive shirts..." (SLAP!) "OK, I guess it's VERY touch sensitive..."

      --
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  4. And this differs... how .....? by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And this differs from the for over 20-years available touchpads, how?

    Resistive papers have been used for oh, 70 years now, ever since the Western Union Teledeltos fax machines, circa 1938.

    I recall my father using those sheets to simulate heat flow inside the CDC 8600. A ten cent analog computer of sorts.

    1. Re:And this differs... how .....? by Peeet · · Score: 2, Informative

      Go watch the freaking video and then regret ever posting that comment.

      http://www.technologyreview.com/video/?vid=290&a=f

    2. Re:And this differs... how .....? by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 2, Informative

      Okay!

        Next time I want to make a sloppy kindergarden finger-paint drawing I'm so there!

      X-Y sensing pads have a long and dismal history-- They work fine for the first day but the slightest bit of moisture or grunge or wear and they go downhill in a hurry.

    3. Re:And this differs... how .....? by Peeet · · Score: 1

      Okay!

      Next time I want to make a sloppy kindergarden finger-paint drawing I'm so there!

      That's just an example application, demonstrating the pressure sensitivity and multi-touch capability of the technology. The technology is not exclusively limited to that demonstration and I know you are a smart enough person to see through that straw man argument you are putting up there.

      X-Y sensing pads have a long and dismal history-- They work fine for the first day but the slightest bit of moisture or grunge or wear and they go downhill in a hurry.

      Care to cite some sources? I have been following multi-touch technology for a while and this is the first demonstration I've seen of a non-capacitance based (iphone is capacitance) non-camera based multi-touch interface that is thin and flat and claims to be flexible, mostly transparent, and cheap. If you have some examples that show multi-touch from this "long dismal history" you are talking about, I am genuinely interested in hearing about them.

    4. Re:And this differs... how .....? by orclevegam · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not sure what the GP is talking about, but I was under the impression this sort of technology has been around for a very long time (based on description in summary and article). I only see two really new bits of design here, one being the conductive element changing conductivity based on pressure (this to a certain extent has been used before, but it sounds like this material offers finer sensitivity than previous approaches), and more crucially the software used to process the signal coming from this thing. For all intents and purposes the hardware side of this thing sounds decidedly ho-hum, but the software that's doing the interpolation from the resistance data seems like the magic that actually makes it worth anything.

      They also bring up an excellent point towards the end of the article where they point out one of the biggest challenges is going to be integrating this thing into a display. On the plus side I imagine it should be fairly straightforward to layer it over a piece of glass, but I'd be worried about scratching and such as any damage to the top grid would ruin the pressure sensitivity around that area and who knows what the software driving the thing would interpret that as.

      --
      Curiosity was framed, Ignorance killed the cat.
    5. Re:And this differs... how .....? by Stratocastr · · Score: 1

      its cheaper

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    6. Re:And this differs... how .....? by tygerstripes · · Score: 1

      Hang on... inexpensive and flexible? The possibilities go quite far beyond merely replacing existing hardware functionality, and I don't think people are fully appreciating this.

      Durability of touch-surfaces has always been a concern, but if it's so cheap then why not have replacable touch-surface film? Whenever the surface gets a bit scuffed or unresponsive, just replace it yourself - no fuss.

      Extending the idea, why not have printed surfaces, with different surfaces for different applications? Just print a new batch of till (cash-teller) overlays whenever the product lineup changes.

      I'm sure there are a hundred more innovative ways of using this, of which I could never conceive. If this were just an incremental upgrade to existing touch-hardware, I'd appreciate people's concerns. As it is, the fact that this is supposedly very cheap and flexible means that its most dramatic impact will be in new applications.

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    7. Re:And this differs... how .....? by ulmedas · · Score: 1

      Um...well, for one, you are linking a single pressure input, vs something that can detect multiple points of pressure (continuously) with the number of connections to electronics being of order 2n on an nxn grid. Most grid bases multi-touch sensors have n^2 connections and much more complicated and expensive electronics. It does help to read the articles before you post.

  5. When? Fall. by dazedNconfuzed · · Score: 2, Informative

    Late fall. Rumor is Apple may introduce a 10" iPod Touch, which for most purposes is a touchscreen netbook.

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    Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
    1. Re:When? Fall. by Abreu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, but if its by Apple, it won't be cheap (which is part of the "netbook" definition)

      --
      No sig for the moment.
  6. Re:Presssure? by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

    I heard it alssso makes the wearer invisssible.

    You know, because it's preciousss.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
  7. Pressure Based? by DJCouchyCouch · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Work faster! FASTER! The deadline's in THREE HOURS!" *whip crack*

  8. Re:Presssure? by Peeet · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think the more important typo in the headline is that the words "multi-touch" are not used. That is the most impressive part of this prototype above and beyond the fact that it is cheap, flexible, and pressure based.

  9. Ha ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    This technology will be a huge leap forward for butt-print analysis.

    Did you get that thing I set ya?

  10. Re:I for one welcome... by Idiomatick · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You can get that if you ignore cheap right now. So i'd give it a few years max. Battery life is hard to get that high though it is something the industry is stupidly ignoring. My thinkpad CAN do 10 but on minimal settings and isn't a touchscreen. By volume my battery is about 10% of the laptop (ignoring the screen). I'd be comfortable giving up some speed and have a battery that takes twice as much or better still, 2 batteries so I could likely run forever. It is clearly doable, there are many laptops with smaller forms not to mention that inside this there is a lot of empty space anyways. (Plus I really don't need a 56k modem or 3 card readers or external hdd or 1394. To be honest since usb came out I fail to see the point of card readers, fax modems have been useless for at least 10years, and usb is fast enough for an external drive til usb 3.0 becomes common. I would however appreciate a mini-usb port or 2, it could replace headphones/mic/w/e)

    Sorry for running off topic...
    I question the durability of these printable touchpads. They can't replace anything if they wear out. No-one will be replacing their touchpads. If I have to ship my laptop/phone in for a few days every other month it better save me 50% of the cost of the whole product so I can buy 2.

  11. Not really new by bagofbeans · · Score: 1

    I don't see why this is any more commercially viable than existing capacitive and resistive touch pads from Synaptics and Alps. It's not just the touch pad cost that matters (and a capacitive pad is cheaper to make than any resistive design), but the interpolation and calibration processing cost. This proposed system requires a lot of interpolation, meaning CPU power. A Synaptics touch pad (for example) draws a few 10s to a few 100s of microamps in operation, using a cheap embedded CPU...

    1. Re:Not really new by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you had read the article (I know, I know, it's slashdot), you'd have found out two crucial differences: it's pressure sensitive, meaning it outputs data about how hard it's being touched, not just yes or no, which the cheap capacitive touchpads you're referring to don't do, and it works with any pressure source, such as a stylus or a gloved finger, which capacitive touchpads can't do. Capacitive touchpads depend on the electrical properties of the human finger. Resistive touchpads don't.

      As an added bonus, it's multi-touch. So not only can you find out that someone is touching the pad with three fingers, but you can tell that they're pressing harder with the first finger than with the other two. This opens up a whole realm of user interface design possibilities that aren't currently an option.

      The current prototype isn't transparent, but they claim it can be made transparent, so that hurdle can be cleared. The features this thing provides could seriously open up the design space for devices and interfaces, assuming the "inexpensive" part is carried through in their business plan. No doubt the technique is patented, so it wouldn't be hard to end up in an e-ink position, where prices are outrageous because of the legal monopoly. I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll evaluate the market and see Synaptics and Alps and understand the wisdom of cheap licensing and high volume production. Unlike the e-ink market, there is appreciable competition; the new features don't sound so indispensable that the new hardware will totally swamp their competitor's markets.

    2. Re:Not really new by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

      I bought my ex a tablet, years ago. She was an artist, and loved the thing. It was resistive, not capacitive. Try again.

      I own a notebook. The capacitive touchpad has never shown the least signs of being pressure sensitive. I don't know what software you've used, but the software I use has never so much as attempted to respond to different pressures. Maybe you think that the electrical changes induced by pressing more skin to the surface of the device are responding to the pressure? It's not. It's responding to the addition of more skin, generally by getting sloppier in its positioning. The data gets muddier, without providing anything you imagine.

    3. Re:Not really new by ulmedas · · Score: 1

      It is more commercially viable because it is much much cheaper, and as a previous poster mentioned, it detects pressure continuously. Capacitive screens are expensive to manufacture. Look at the iPhone, it is several hundred dollars for a very small screen. Also, the technology mentioned above does actually do a lot of the low level processing in the on board electronics. It's power draw is minimal.

  12. Re:Presssure? by LunarEffect · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, that was intentional. Only having 2 "S" could invoke Godwin's law.

  13. The Intellivision Disc LIVES! by tjstork · · Score: 1

    Wow, these guys re-invented the little plastic sheet you had to replace every now in then in the Intellivision controller because the buttons and disc eventually wore through the circuits. Still the best controller ever, but... dang!

    --
    This is my sig.
  14. Hard to make this transparent and cheap by podom · · Score: 1

    This is a neat piece of technology. It looks to me like they've used a grid of electrodes + FSR ink to create an array of force sensing resistors.

    I'm guessing: isolate a pair of electrodes (an X and a Y), and measure the resistance between them to get a reading of the pressure applied at that point. Scan the entire pad to get a pressure map.

    This would be really cool for a touch screen interface, except for the fact that IT WOULD BE TOTALLY OPAQUE! The FSR ink is black. Maybe a thin enough layer could be used to be transparent and ITO electrodes could be used. I'm not sure. Sounds more expensive.

    --
    We're wanted men. I have the death sentence in 12 systems!
  15. No more whiteboards by Spacepup · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If I were a betting woman, I'd put money that this technology is going to replace white-boards and chalkboards at universities everywhere. No more having to deal with dried up markers or missing chalk.

  16. Robot skin by Facegarden · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Looks like this could go a long way towards providing some very effective "Skin" for a robot, to sense contact all over.
    -Taylor

    --
    Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
    1. Re:Robot skin by Paul+Fernhout · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I agree. What I find most interesting about this is the robotic applications for touch sensitivity and dexterous manipulation.

      If robots can "feel" the world, vision would not be nearly so important.

      Touch sensors that are as cheap and functional as the one mentioned here will IMHO revolutionize robotic manipulation, and in turn, manufacturing and deployment of manufactured goods in unstructured settings (like doing plumbing).

      Insects do really well relying a lot on touch.

      While I don't follow that field very closely, it would seem to me that this invention could be game changing.

      Also, one of the top priorities of a place like Willow Garage
          http://www.willowgarage.com/
      is to make robots that can safely interact with humans an coexist in human space. Touch in an important part of that.

      I expect to see a lot more invention along this line.

      --
      A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
  17. Advanced Applications by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

    This would make the ultimate DDR pad.

  18. May the FSR ink be with you... by ikono · · Score: 1

    --The sheets are also covered with a layer of force-sensitive resistor (FSR) ink-- Wow, looks like the Jedi religion is one step closer

    --
    Karma is for whores