Communications of the ACM
Printed Electronics: A Multi-Touch Sensor Customizable With Scissors
Users can change the size and shape of a new printable multi-touch sensor manually.
Credit: Saarland University
Researchers at Saarland University, the Max Planck Institute of Informatics, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a printable multi-touch sensor whose shape and size can be altered.
The system is equipped with a new circuit layer designed to help it withstand cuts, damage, and removed areas. The researchers see the new technology being applied to interactive walls used for discussions and brainstorming.
"By customizing and pasting on our new sensor you can make every surface interactive, no matter if it is the wristband of a watch, a cloth on a trade fair table, or wallpaper," says Max Planck doctoral candidate Simon Olberding.
The researchers say they took their inspiration from nature, examining the human nerve system and fungal root networks to develop two basic layouts.
"We assume that printed sensors will be so inexpensive that multi-touch sensing capability will become an inherent part of the material," says Jurgen Steimle, who heads the Embodied Interaction research group at the Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction in Saarbrucken. "Users can take it to create interactive applications or just to write on it."
The researchers presented their work at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology last week in St. Andrews, Scotland.
From Saarland University
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2013 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found