Touch

Studies have shown that with the right amount of white noise in the background, peoples’ sight, hearing, balance control and sense of touch improve. Utilizing stochastic resonance, which is the principle at work in white noise, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered that the sense of touch can also be improved by applying vibrations to a person’s finger. They have been testing a glove that incorporates a prototype fingertip-buzzing device, that could ultimately lead to products worn by people with nerve damage, or whose jobs require exceptional manual dexterity. Read More

Providing robots with sensory inputs is one of the keys to the development of more capable and useful machines. Sight and hearing are the most common senses bestowed upon our mechanical friends (perhaps soon to be foes?), but even taste and smell have got a look in. With the sense of touch so important to human beings, there have also been a number of efforts to give robots the sense of touch so they can better navigate and interact with their environments. The latest attempt to create a touchy feely robot comes from the Technical University Munich (TUM) where researchers have produced small hexagonal plates, which when joined together, form a sensitive skin. Read More

Of all the things we expected to see on display at CES in Las Vegas, a garbage can was not one of them. Nonetheless, amongst the tablet computers, 3D camcorders and iPhone apps, there sat the simplehuman sensor can. Like some other “touchless” garbage cans, its built-in sensor detects when someone is nearby, causing the can to obligingly open its lid. What makes it special – perhaps – is the company’s claim that the can’s “multi-sense” technology can adapt to what the user is doing. Read More

In-car navigation systems that literally tell drivers where to go are much more convenient and safer than resting a street directory on one’s lap and quickly trying to devise a route on a map at a set of traffic lights. But audio instructions may not always be the best way to impart directional information to hard of hearing drivers or those yakking on a mobile phone – with a hands-free kit I should hope. A new study suggests that devices mounted to a steering wheel that pull the driver’s index fingertips left or right could help motorists drive more safely. The same technology could also be attached to a cane to provide directional cues to blind pedestrians. Read More

It’s not uncommon to see children attempt to reach out and touch objects the first time they don 3D glasses and sit down in front of a 3D TV. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have created a new virtual reality device that enables users to do just that. The relatively low-cost device called the Heads-Up Virtual Reality device (HUVR) combines a consumer 3D HDTV panel and a touch-feedback (haptic) device to enable users not only to see a 3D image, but “feel” it too. Read More

Nintendo was doing touchscreen gaming long before Apple ever decided to get in the game. But as the iPod touch, the iPhone, and now the iPad have challenged the gaming giant, Nintendo is expected to respond aggressively with a new console in 2010. Reports are already starting to roll in that some developers in Japan have received early versions of the new Nintendo hardware. Read More

Microsoft’s Surface and Ideum’s offering might have blazed a lightly traveled trail for touch-sensitive computerized tables, but they seem to have overlooked one important factor - they are difficult to comfortably use while sitting down due to their boxy shape. German artist Janis Pönisch has solved this problem with her design for the outer shell of the Touchy Remix – a multi-touch table that people can actually sit at. Read More

Personal sex devices for women have been around for more than 100 years and, though they may not appear to have changed much, research used to create the ultimate device and technology embedded in them certainly has evolved. The taboo surrounding the use of women’s sexual stimulation “toys” has all but disappeared - discussion about products (and even their use) appears regularly on TV in sitcoms, movies and documentaries. But where are all the toys for men? Apart from old-style blow-up dolls – the butt of many jokes and attendee at many a bucks’ party – or the latest sex robot in Roxxxy, what else exists? The world's largest pornographic Video On Demand supplier, Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) has addressed this shortfall with the RealTouch – “the world’s first virtual sex device for men”. Read More

Touchscreens found in most mobile devices today use capacitance or resistance technology - fine for detecting input from a finger, but not so great when it comes to detecting how much pressure that finger is applying. However, this limitation could be about to change with news that Japanese touch screen manufacturer, Nissha, has licensed new technology that allows a touchscreen to detect pressure, even from a finger. This adds a third dimension to touchscreen interaction and opens up a raft of potential applications. Read More