Inline, Online, Off

Touchscreens And Gesture Drive Up Texture Desire

As the change in season has me refreshing my home and wardrobe with boucle wools, knit tweeds, faux furs, cashmeres, silks and suedes, I’ve wondered if my warming to natural fibers is simply about the chill in the air or is a subtle response to the abundance of touchscreens and sleek electronics around me. 

There was a time in the late 90s where most of the clothing I craved was Teflon-infused: smooth, waterproof and machine-made. And everything in my little starter flat in London was seemingly constructed of plastic, resin, or perfectly molded, manufactured material. 

Fast-forward 20 years and I couldn’t be happier to see Kinect-like gesture tech showing up for mobile phones and in concepts for other devices in industrial design to now replace touchscreen operability… those smudgy fingerprints, man. They’ll be the death of me!

It’s so exciting to think that soon we may never have to touch an elevator button or public wayfinding display again. In the home, gesture-controlled devices will be abundant: all household lighting dimmer switches transformed, turning the oven on (or down), turning up “the stereo,” closing the blinds… 

But in this absence of touch, I have to think our homes and clothing will become more tactile. We’ll want to somehow offset or juxtapose the presence of screens and gesture-controlled devices/furnishings with gnarled and knotted woods, dimpled galvanized metals, plush hides and reclaimed surfaces.

Not just because handmade goods are trendy right now and (arguably) more sustainable, but my suspicion is nature-made, hand-curated items will become more desirable and de rigeuer due to the touchless and highly-efficient environment being built by engineers.

The Future Will Be a Bit Touchy-Feely

My deep-seated, OCD fear of a smudgy fingerprint-smeared world of screens may be muted by this vision of an environment where projectors render touchscreens onto any surface. 

We’re already raising a generation of kids that assume they can touch-interact with things that look a bit like tablet interfaces, but should this technology (and demand for it) rise, our dependency on keyboards, consoles, and screens — and the fairly significant associated cost — may be eradicated. 

via AdWeek/AdFreak: Check out the video below from Chris Harrison, a Ph.D. student in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University who specializes in interfaces.

OK, let’s re-imagine digital out-of-home. Go!

Sensory Touchscreen is Here

Now available for early incorporation into devices large and small, Senseg’s E-Sense technology uses an electro-sensory phenomenon to replicate the feeling of texture on virtually any touch interface surface, whether it’s flat or curved, transparent or opaque.

Let’s start developing stuff! Ready. Set. Go!

(via Springwise.)

Fab or Fad? Touchscreen-Enhancing Accessories

According to Springwise, Ringbow is a device that hopes to streamline a number of functions performed when using touchscreen navigation. By using the ring in conjunction with a thumb, the device can reduce the need for on-screen menus, enabling users to control on-screen elements and their properties remotely without touching the screen.

This prototype video demonstrates how the ring becomes almost like a mouse:

Now that touchscreens are omnipresent, we’re entering the next phase of innovation, which is all around improving the technology and enhancing the user experience.

Of course, I’d still like it if a lot of this R&D could go toward dealing with all those smudgy fingerprints on everything in our brave, new world. 

The Brave, Smudgy, New World of UI

So fascinated by this, albeit crude, touchscreen tracking study. Looking at all those smudgy fingertips and traces left on tablets is theoretically cheaper than eye tracking software, considerably less sophisticated. But very telling.