Microsoft demoed its Pre-Touch sensing technology that anticipates one’s fingers before they even touch the screen, and provides contextual menus that are adapted to the grip. Microsoft video, recently posted a YouTube video that showcases various uses of Pre-Touch sensing. The technology thus allows for an entirely new approach to user interfaces on mobile phone devices and any others that sport a touch screen. Instead of just an orientation sensor, Microsoft has made it possible for the device to know exactly where the user’s fingers are, around the edges of the device, and whether or not the device is being held with two hands or just one. The touch screen senses fingers in close proximity to the screen, even before a touch event seemingly happens.
This allows the phone to anticipate the gestures of the users, which provides contextual menus based on how the phone is being gripped. For instance, the interface of a video player adapts to two-handed views or simply a one-handed view. Video players usually require users to scrub on a progress bar to navigate to a particular point in the video. The volume is also usually adjusted with a horizontal slider on the top. Microsoft Research demonstrated dial like features for going through the timeline, or adjusting the volume. According to the experts, the technology can also be used for creating cleaner web browsers, with hyperlinks and buttons for embedded multimedia content showing up around the area of the finger, and only when required.
This technology could well be the precursor to touch less displays. We do have gesture controlled devices but this technology developed by Microsoft takes it to an entirely new level. The video almost makes it feel like some science fiction movie that has come to happen in reality.
