Capitalizing on the recent nail-art craze, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a thumbnail trackpad intended to be fashionable and functional.
The wearable sensor, dubbed NailO, sticks to your fingernail and essentially brings your smartphone's touch screen to your finger. Scroll through a digital recipe while cooking, or answer the phone when your hands are full.
"It's very unobtrusive," said Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, an MIT graduate student working on the NailO . "When I put this on, it becomes part of my body. I have the power to take it off, so it still gives you control over it. But it allows this very close connection to your body."
Still a prototype, the device was inspired by the colorful stickers women often apply to their nails.
"It's a cosmetic product, popular in Asian cultures," Kao said in a statement. "When I came here [from Taiwan], I was looking for them, but I couldn't find them, so I'd have my family mail them to me."
Using capacitive sensing—like the technology embedded in an iPhone's touch screen—the device works even with a thin coating between the sensor and your finger. That's good news for the MIT researchers, who hope to develop a commercial version featuring detachable "nails" that can be swapped out for different colors and styles.
You won't find NailO next to the polish remover or emery boards on shelves any time soon, though. This early prototype is still under development. As you can see in the video, it's still a bit larger than the average nail , so researchers are working to slim down the device and battery without losing functionality.
Still, the team has already managed to pack capacitive sensors, a battery, and three separate chips into a thumbnail-sized gadget. Not an easy task, according to grad student and researcher Artem Dementyev.
"The hardest part was probably the antenna design," he said. "You have to put the antenna far enough away from the chips so that it doesn't interfere with them."
Digital marketing
Digital marketing helps you to find yourself in first place among the other competitors. We help you to strategically plan and execute your, product and services through our online platforms. Pixotri technology is a creative house developing quality web designs, E-Commerce solution. SEO services and Gaming development .
Contact us for your Digital marketing requirementemail - info@pixotritechnologies.com. Visit our website: www.pixotritechnologies.com
No comments:
Post a Comment