Asian Scientist (Jul. 11, 2013) – Imagine turning a whiteboard, glass window or even a wooden table top into a responsive, touch sensitive surface.
A low cost system developed by researchers in Singapore can do just that. The system, described in IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, is based the principles of vibration and imaging and is able to track the movements of multiple fingers and of objects.
Retrofitting the system onto existing flat-panel TVs will transform it into new, touch sensitive display screens.
Once hooked up to a computer, the modified TV screens can then be used as interactive billboards, mall directories and even as a digital whiteboard which can track what is drawn or written.
“Our innovative system is able to transform surfaces such as wooden tables, aluminium, steel, glass and even plastics into low-cost touch screens. It means in future, you could play computer games or draw sketches on walls or windows since almost all surfaces can be made touch-sensitive with our system,” says Professor Andy Khong, the leader of the study.
How it works
Named STATINA (Speech Touch and Acoustic Tangible Interfaces for Next-generation Applications), this system exploits principles of vibration waves propagating on a solid surface.
By using a few low-cost vibration sensors and a specially developed algorithm, the system can pinpoint the location of a light tap on any surface. When further equipped with low-cost web-cameras, this system can also track the movements of multiple fingers or objects on any surface.
Since sound waves propagate through matter at a certain speed, it is possible to derive the location of the touch based on when each sensor picks up the signal.
In addition to understanding the mechanics behind solid wave propagation, the scientists developed a unique signal processing algorithm to figure out the exact location of the initial point of impact.
Future plans
Prof Kong and his team of researchers are now working to commercialize their invention by developing a more compact system and expanding its capabilities to include tracking of fingers and stylus movements using optical cameras.
So far, they have tested their system on surfaces such as wooden tables, aluminium, steel, glass and plastics.
The article can be found at: Reju et al. (2013) Localization Of Taps On Solid Surfaces For Human-Computer Touch interfaces.
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Source: Nanyang Technological University; Photo: jurvetson/Flickr.
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