[youtube]http://youtu.be/E4tYpXVTjxA[/youtube]
Touch screens have revolutionized not only mobile phones, but also electronic devices available in almost every home or even in cars, planes, ships or any other type of machinery. Because touch screens are not enough, the ones from Disney he imagines that we can live in a world where many surfaces become tactile, but besides them we include liquids and even the human body. In the video clip above we have a short demonstration of the technology designed by Disney and you notice that their software is able to perceive not only touches but to distinguish between a normal touch and a complex one.
Touché proposes a novel Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing technique that can not only detect a touch event, but also recognize complex configurations of the human hands and body. Such contextual information significantly enhances touch interaction in a broad range of applications, from conventional touchscreens to unique contexts and materials. For example, in our explorations we add touch and gesture sensitivity to the human body and liquids. We demonstrate the rich capabilities of Touché with five example setups from different application domains and conduct experimental studies that show gesture classification accuracies of 99% are achievable with our technology.
Depending on the type of touch, the software in the devices designed by Disney reacts differently and I think that their technology, although extremely interesting, is perhaps much too advanced for the times in which we live. Touché will most likely end up in various devices in the near future, but for now I don't think we can rely on its practical applications.
