While touch screen devices are increasing in popularity, the small screen sizes are proving to be a problem because users’ fingers block the graphical elements he wishes to work with. Now, a US researcher at Microsoft has created an interface that gives the user a semi-transparent view of the device, thus providing easier navigation.
Researcher Patrick Baudisch demonstrated his ‘LucidTouch’ technology at TechFest, Microsoft’s annual display of experimental technology in Redmond on Tuesday.
LucidTouch allows users of touch-screen devices, such as GPS units or mobile phones, to perform operations from behind the device, so their actions do not block their view of the display.
The device currently uses a camera mounted behind the unit; but the researcher is planning to integrate the necessary sensors into the back panel.
“The key to making this usable is what we call pseudo-transparency,” said Baudisch. “By overlaying an image of the user’s hands onto the screen, we create the illusion of the mobile device itself being semi-transparent. This pseudo-transparency allows users to accurately acquire targets while not occluding the screen with their fingers and hand.
LucidTouch also supports multi-touch input, allowing users to operate the device simultaneously with all 10 fingers.
Baudisch envisions myriad uses for the device, from navigation tools and personal computing to graphic design and video games. For instance, gamers can control multiple units in a strategy game. Two gamers may put the tablet between them and each play one side in a sports game.
At this year’s Techfest, forty new technologies were displayed, showing how computing enables new experiences and how the basic tools of computer science are evolving to help all sciences advance more rapidly.
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