The next computer touchscreen - skinput

The latest in futuristic computing, is skinput, this would mean that we would not have to carry a computer around with us, but, instead, roll up our sleeve and there it is our new touchscreen computer.

Researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University are developing a device that will project a touchscreen onto the human body, the hand or forearm mostly.

Chris Harrison is one of the lead researchers, making his living turning everyday objects into touch screens. Currently available platforms allow users to project screens onto tables and other flat surfaces.

Harrison points out that you can never find a table when you need one the most, so he is investigating using something which we always have on us..... THE BODY! 

Skinput uses a armband that projects a touchscreen onto the forearm and hand. Large tabs or push buttons flicker across your flesh. This system will work on acoustics, so this means when you tap your forearm, acoustic signals are produced as your flesh ripples and your bones vibrate. Each strike makes a distinct acoustic impression, owing to the bone density, the size and mass of your arm and the dampening effect of the muscle tissue. Skinput's software 'listens' to each tap, and then assigns it to a location on the screen. 

95 per cent accuracy using five key points on the arm and hand can be achieved, according to the confident researchers. For people who struggle, one-handed with a smart phone, it sounds like a pretty decent rate. According to Harrison, one of the advantages of this system is its intuitiveness. Everyone, he points out, can touch their thumb to their wrist or snap their fingers without looking down.

Developers are not yet suggesting that skinput will replace a full keyboard – their most ambitious trial yet involves 10 strike points on the arm – but they do see it as a near-term replacement for iPods and smart phones that use dial pads and scrolling menus.

This is a cutting edge technology, and i think in the next five years we will all begin to see such interfaces emerge into society.