I bet everyone of us has at least once tried to operate our touchscreen smartphone using our knuckle or a fingernail but the screen never recognizes that.
That is all set to change soon, as a US-based scientist has modified the screen on a Samsung Galaxy S3 which is now able to differentiate between fingertips, knuckles and fingernails.
The computer scientist from the US, Chris Harrison modified a Samsung Galaxy S3 to successfully distinguish the three touch variations viz knuckle, fingertip and fingernail.
Chris took the S3 and placed a small vibration sensor and added the his FingerSense software to it. This helps the prototype smartphone to listen for the acoustic and vibrational differences between the three different types of touch.
Chris who started his own tech company, Qeexo, in Carnegie Mellon University in 2012, has developed this technology and plans to sell it to smartphone manufacturers in the near future. The company aims to roll out this new technology for smartphones within an year.
Commenting on the new technology, Qeexo says, "Our FingerSense technology is an enhancement to touch interaction that allows screens to know how the finger is being used for input: fingertip, knuckle or nail. Further, our system can support a passive stylus. Performance is real-time, low-latency, and power efficient."
This new development could prove to be of great advantage in a move to remove the capacitive buttons we find on smartphone these days, as simple knuckle/fingernail gestures can be used to perform their functions.