Touch screens were just the start.
User interface experimentation is blossoming as new sensors liberate computing devices from keyboards and mice, and a new glove from Fujitsu Laboratories embodies the trend. The device has a near-field communications (NFC) reader and gyroscopic sensors for gesture-based interactions with a person’s environment.
Fujitsu will show the wearable device at the Mobile World Congress show next week in Barcelona, with plans to sell it in 2015.
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The idea is to let a person — likely in some specific work situation — tap an object with the NFC reader, then perform a gesture that triggers an action like playing recorded information about the object through the person’s headphones. The prototype glove can detect with 98 percent accuracy when a person’s hand has moved up, down, left, and right, or has rotated clockwise or counterclockwise.
That could be handy in places where a keyboard isn’t practical.
“In some work settings, such as those that require gloves to be worn or environments in
which hands get dirty, taking out and using a conventional smart device can be difficult. Another hurdle is that users need to stop what they are doing in order to use their smart device,” Fujitsu said.