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Technology
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2006-11-29 05:55:23-05
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Soon, your desk surface could become your keyboard and mouse-pad
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London, Nov 29: With ordinary interface devices (like a keyboard, mouse, touch screen and ultrasonic pen), the interaction of humans with computers is restricted to a particular device at a certain location within a small movement area. Now the Interactive Systems Research Group, at the Reading University in UK is aiming to create tangible interfaces that will make the interaction possible via augmented physical surfaces, graspable objects and ambient media ( e.g. wall, tabletop and air), as well as making the interaction natural without the need for a hand held device. The system, called Tai-Chi (Tangible Acoustic Interfaces for Computer-Human Interaction), is being developed by an international team of researchers from Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France and the UK. "We have made a system that can give any object, even a 3D one, a sense of touch," New Scientist quoted Ming Yang, an engineer at Cardiff University, who is coordinating the project as saying.
"One advantage of the system is that for little cost you can have a much larger touch-sensitive area. The whole surface of your desk could become your keyboard and mouse-pad," Yang added. Tai-Chi uses tiny piezoelectric sensors to sense minute surface vibrations. The sensors are connected to a desktop computer loaded with software developed by the team and the system can track up to two objects at once. The researcher adds that the system could help workplaces keep up hygiene. "Keyboards are very difficult to keep clean and can harbour infection. We could have a keyboard drawn onto the desks that would work perfectly and could be disinfected much more easily," he adds. William Harwin, a interfaces researcher at Reading University, adds that users might not find it easy to switch from a normal keyboard to simply tapping on their desk. "People expect a degree of feedback from pushing buttons and switches. It is important in giving people a sense of quality," he said.
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