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NYU Researchers Create Cheap, Flexible Pressure-Based Interface
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."
Weren't Light Emitting Polymers supposed to have offered all of this about 10 years ago? Whatever happened to them?
...and it's inexpensive... ...because they put the word "inexpensive" in the product name...
http://www.beanleafpress.com
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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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.
Late fall. Rumor is Apple may introduce a 10" iPod Touch, which for most purposes is a touchscreen netbook.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
I heard it alssso makes the wearer invisssible.
You know, because it's preciousss.
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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.
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.
No, that was intentional. Only having 2 "S" could invoke Godwin's law.
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.
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.
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?