Touch-enabled
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Imagine touching the armrest of your sofa to change the channel on your television, or pressing against a lightbulb stencil on the wall to turn on your smart light – these functions and many more like them are now possible thanks to new research. -
Scientists in Australia have developed a new type of electronic material that is touch-responsive and just a fraction of the thickness of current smartphone screens, which could see it one day find use in next-generation mobile devices.
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Touch-enabled coffee tables have been around for a while that family and friends can gather around, but they can be rather expensive. British startup Jigabyte has joined the touchscreen coffee table party and aims to significantly reduce the cost of entry.
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Back in 2012, Bruno Zamborlin revealed a tiny device that could transform any surface into a musical instrument. Now he's unveiled HyperSurfaces, which taps into the power of AI and machine learning to turn "any object of any material, shape and size" into a user interface.
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Puppy Robotics launched an interactive all-in-one projector on Indiegogo a couple of weeks ago called the puppy cube. We've had one on our review bench for the last few days, here's what we think of it.
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China's Puppy Robotics is launching the puppy cube, a portable laser projector that turns any flat surface into a touchscreen, and one that has its own speakers and doesn't require its users to hold a stylus.
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Opening the "sipping port" on a bottle can be tricky, if you're drinking from it one-handed. If you just leave it open, though, the bottle's contents can slosh out as you drive, etc. The Lyd bottle offers a solution, in the form of a lid that only opens when your lips are touching it.
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We've heard about prosthetic arms/hands that provide people with a sense of touch, although there can be problems with the devices, sometimes resulting in users getting a painful shock or feeling nothing at all. That may not be the case for much longer, though, thanks to a new electronic module.
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When we last heard about Chinese company Mobvoi, it was Kickstarting a budget smartwatch designed to take on the big boys. Now, Mobvoi is on Indiegogo with a pair of wireless earbuds that could give Apple's AirPods a run for their money.
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Dmitry Morozov has created some cool instruments over the years, including a machine that turned cable twists into eerie music and a synthesizer powered by his own blood. His latest project is a strange electromechanical organ that uses three different-sized DC motors to generate synth-like sounds.
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Weaving electronic smarts into clothing has the potential to heat headgear, monitor health and keep you connected. But smart fabrics are not just useful for wearables. To demonstrate this, Madison Maxey has created a tablecloth-sized textile trackpad to replace a computer mouse or, well, trackpad.
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If you've ever sat down to a dish of Jell-O and wished that it was a touch-screen control , Carnegie Mellon University has got your back with a technology called Electrick that turns almost any surface, including the gelatin dessert, into an interactive control using a can of spray paint.
