Sensing Force-Based Gestures on the Pixel 4

From Google on finger pressure detection:

https://ai.googleblog.com/2020/06/sensing-force-based-gestures-on-pixel-4.html

Project Jacquard

Project Jacquard:

Project Jacquard makes it possible to weave touch and gesture interactivity into any textile using standard, industrial looms. Everyday objects such as clothes and furniture can be transformed into interactive surfaces.

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Metaio’s Thermal Touch And The Future Of Augmented Reality User Interfaces | TechCrunch

Metaio’s Thermal Touch And The Future Of Augmented Reality User Interfaces | TechCrunch:



There are some obvious issues on how this would work on warmer than human finger or unevenly heated surfaces. Also it is unclear what are the maximum data rates could be achieved, as it takes some time for surface to cool after the finger removed. Nevertheless interesting idea. Perhaps it could be combined with some more traditional touch detection approaches.



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Synaptics going driverless

DailyTech - CES 2014: Synaptics Shows Off New Touch Tech:

"One of the biggest recent innovations has been the switch to driverless devices and advance being co-championed by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).  With its latest laptop touchpads a tiny onboard ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) handles all the responsibilities directly that drivers would have done.  The tiny chip even interfaces with connected networks via the motherboard bus to updates its internal firmware."

This is a bad news for researchers and developers like myself. That means that the gesture recognition algorithms will be even further removed from software and only ones implemented in firmware by the vendor will be able to access touch sensor raw data.

AppleInsider reports:

With its U.S. Patent No. 8,581,870 for "Touch-sensitive button with two levels," Apple may be on the verge of introducing a new form of input; one that could change the face of iOS.
While a majority of the patent refers to a "button," a notation buried near the end of the document points out that a touch screen operatively coupled to an actuator can be considered a "touch-sensitive depressible button".

AquaTop display is a touchscreen display for your bath - DigInfo TV

DigInfo TV reports on AquaTop display - a touchscreen display for your bath:

Apple investigating advanced velocity-sensitive touch input methods

AppleInsider reports new Apple's patent application they have spotted:

Apple's touchscreens can measure not only where you tap, but also how hard you tap — and that velocity sensing functionality may become even more advanced in the future, a new patent application reveals. The filing, entitled "System and Method for Enhancing Touch Input," describes a processing algorithm that would estimate the velocity of a touch input. The sensors within an iOS device or otherwise allow the system to determine velocity, even though the screen may not be pressure sensitive.

The patent abstract provides more technical detail:

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for processing user input. A system configured to practice the method first receives, via a touch screen of a computing device, input from a user. Then the system fetches data associated with the input from at least two sensors other than the touch screen and adjusts an input processing algorithm based on the input and the data to yield an adjusted input processing algorithm. Then the system can process the input according the adjusted input processing algorithm. The adjusted input processing algorithm can estimate a velocity of the input and/or filter out invalid inputs. The other sensors besides the touch screen can be an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a microphone, a Hall Effect sensor, a compass, an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, a camera, and/or a positioning system. The data can relate to the input based on a temporal relationship.

Samsung AirView under the hood

If you interested in technical details on how Samsung AirView works under the hood, please read my blog post.