Skinput, projected interface

What is “Skinput”?
Posted On 09 Mar 2010 By Izanagi.

Do you remember SixthSense? (if not, check out this extensive review)

Well, now here is Skinput!


Chris Harrison, from Carnegie Mellon University, has developed Skinput, a way in which your skin can become a touch screen device or your fingers buttons on a MP3 controller. Harrison says that “as electronics get smaller and smaller they have become more adaptable to being worn on our bodies, but the monitor and keypad/keyboard still have to be big enough for us to operate the equipment.” This can limit just how small our devices can get. However, with the clever acoustics and impact sensing software developed by Harrison and his team, we can use our skin in the same manner as a keypad. Add a small pico projector attached to an arm band (or elsewhere), and your wrist becomes a touch screen!


Chris has apparently also teamed up with Microsoft‘s Dan Morris and Desney Tan on this project. Does it mean that this will be a Microsoft offering at some point? Who knows? But that’s a big downside if you ask me! At least SixthSense technology by Pranav Mistry is slated to be open source! And although they have been doing better lately with projects such as Windows Phone 7 Series, Project Natal, and the mythical Courier tablet, Microsoft still has a hurdle to overcome from not being considered as an “innovator” to the younger generation. (who are the most important when it comes to adopting something such as Skinput!)

Here’s the jist of how it works: The user wears an armband, which contains a very small projector that projects a menu or keypad onto a person’s hand or forearm. The armband also contains an acoustic (sounds) sensor. Why? Because when you tap different parts of your body, it makes unique sounds based on the area’s bone density, soft tissue, joints and other factors.

The software in Skinput is able to analyze the sound frequencies picked up by the acoustic sensor and then determine which button the user has just tapped.

Sounds pretty wild, huh? Well apparently there’s quite a bit of acoustic distinction when it comes to WHERE you’re tapping on your body — even within a small range. So when would it come in handy? Always. “This approach provides an always-available, naturally-portable, and on-body interactive surface,” Chris Harrison wrote on his YouTube page. More information can be found on Chris’ [project website] as well.

VERDICT: Overall, I still think SixthSense makes more “sense”! (no pun intended) I feel as if you have more freedom with the ability to project ANYWHERE as opposed to just “on your body”. It almost feels as if Skinput should be incorporated INTO SixthSense somehow instead of being a standalone technology. Maybe that will be the case eventually. Also, the fact that Microsoft seems to have their hands on it makes me a bit weary. Either way, both technologies are still in development and are great indicators of the direction computing is heading in the next decade! Minority Report, here we come!!!



Original link:
http://techknowbabel.com/2010/03/09/what-is-skinput/

Another report:
NEC Develops Technology to Control Devices with the Tap of an Armm