Tech & Biz

Scroll in Thin Air with Virtual Touchpad

by Erik Larson | October 29, 2008 at 12:37 pm

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New interactive holographic technology will be used in cell phones to create more user-friendly functionality. By putting your fingers within 10 centimeters, you can manipulate the virtual image hovering above your phone rather than trying to manipulate a small keypad.

The Apple iPhone's sexy touchscreen with its multi-touch commands has been a huge hit with the public, but such screens can only get so small before clunky fingers get in the way. So Microsoft is extending the concept of the touchscreen beyond the edges of the phone itself.

The company's researchers have developed a system called SideSight, which allows you to control a phone placed on a table by wiggling your fingers in the space around it.

The technology was unveiled last week at the User Interface in Software and Technology symposium in Monterey, California.

Alex Butler of the Sensors and Devices Group at Microsoft Research Cambridge in the UK lined the long sides of a phone with infrared sensors that can pick up the movement of fingers up to 10 centimetres away.

"The big advantage of our prototype is the finger does not block any of the screen space," says Butler.