Researchers at the MIT Media Laboratory are developing a new wearable device that turns the user\u2019s thumbnail into a miniature wireless track pad.<\/p>\n
They envision that the technology could let users control wireless devices when their hands are full \u2014 answering the phone while cooking, for instance.<\/p>\n
It could also augment other interfaces, allowing someone texting on a cellphone, say, to toggle between symbol sets without interrupting his or her typing.<\/p>\n
Finally, it could enable subtle communication in circumstances that require it, such as sending a quick text to a child while attending an important meeting.<\/p>\n
The researchers describe a prototype of the device, called NailO, in a paper they\u2019re presenting next week at the Association for Computing Machinery\u2019s Computer-Human Interaction conference in Seoul, South Korea.<\/p>\n
According to Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, an MIT graduate student in media arts and sciences and one of the new paper\u2019s lead authors, the device was inspired by the colorful stickers that some women apply to their nails.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cosmetic product, popular in Asian countries,\u201d says Kao, who is Taiwanese. \u201cWhen I came here, I was looking for them, but I couldn\u2019t find them, so I\u2019d have my family mail them to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, the researchers envision that a commercial version of their device would have a detachable membrane on its surface, so that users could coordinate surface patterns with their outfits.<\/p>\n
To that end, they used capacitive sensing \u2014 the same kind of sensing the iPhone\u2019s touch screen relies on \u2014 to register touch, since it can tolerate a thin, nonactive layer between the user\u2019s finger and the underlying sensors.<\/p>\n