. | . |
New device enables battery-free computer input at the tip of your finger by Staff Writers Waterloo, Canada (SPX) Dec 03, 2019
Computer scientists at the University of Waterloo have created a device for wearable computer input suitable for many situations, just by touching your fingertips together in different ways. The device, called Tip-Tap, is inexpensive and battery-free through the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to sense when fingertips touch. The device could, therefore, be added to disposable surgical gloves, allowing surgeons to access preoperative planning diagrams in an operating room. "One of the many possible applications of the device is in surgeries. What typically happens now with operation digital preplanning is that an assistant is responsible for navigating the computer and communicating with the surgeon, but this is slow and difficult", said Daniel Vogel, a professor in Waterloo's David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. "If the surgeon tries to navigate it themselves using a touchscreen or a mouse, it's problematic because it would require constant sterilization, and current alternatives such as big gestures tracked by computer vision can get very tiring. "The idea is if you mount Tip-Tap in surgical gloves, surgeons could navigate the computer themselves from where they are, and it won't affect their other actions like picking up the scalpel." Researchers created the prototype of Tip-Tap as part of a new partnership with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). In developing the method, the researchers mapped the most comfortable areas on the index finger for people to touch with their thumb, and tested different designs for the input points, such as smooth, bumps, or magnets. Following user tests with an early "wired" prototype to benchmark performance, they tackled the problem of making it "battery-free." The researchers were able to make Tip-Tap battery-free by splitting the antenna of an RFID tag in two, and equipping each side with three chips to enable two-dimensions of fingertip input, the first time this had ever been done. The new RFID tag can be integrated into a glove or attached directly on the skin as a temporary tattoo. "We used this design in two prototype Tip-Tap devices, a glove with a range of four meters, and an on-skin tattoo," said Vogel. "Such devices are useful for issuing simple commands when a user cannot easily hold an input device, and the usage context is a defined area - for example, factory workers, surgeons, or people exercising in a gym. "This is the only device of its kind that we're aware of that doesn't require a battery or cumbersome wires to make it work."
Big plans to save the planet depend on nanoscopic materials improving energy storage Philadelphia PA (SPX) Nov 25, 2019 The challenge of building an energy future that preserves and improves the planet is a massive undertaking. But it all hinges on the charged particles moving through invisibly small materials. Scientists and politicians have recognized the need for an urgent and substantial shift in the world's mechanisms of energy production and consumption in order to arrest its momentum toward environmental cataclysm. A course correction of this magnitude is certainly daunting, but a new report in the journal S ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |