Turn any surface into a touch-sensitive tablet
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10673-acoustic-sensors-make-surfaces-interactive.html
This is a beautiful idea. Tape a couple of microphones to any hard surface, then record the minute vibrations of someone touching or tapping on the surface, and calculate where the touch is located from the timing and amplitude of the vibrations.
I think the best immediate application is one mentioned in the article: Turn any hard surface into a keyboard. Just draw letters on it, teach the software where the letters are, and type away. Or give your robot a rudimentary sense of touch all over its body, or map footsteps across an ordinary floor for a dancing or other VR video game. Lots of possibilities
This is a beautiful idea. Tape a couple of microphones to any hard surface, then record the minute vibrations of someone touching or tapping on the surface, and calculate where the touch is located from the timing and amplitude of the vibrations.
I think the best immediate application is one mentioned in the article: Turn any hard surface into a keyboard. Just draw letters on it, teach the software where the letters are, and type away. Or give your robot a rudimentary sense of touch all over its body, or map footsteps across an ordinary floor for a dancing or other VR video game. Lots of possibilities