Tuesday, 22 July 2014

3D Thimble replaces Computer Mouse

With change in technology, everything around us has changed. Size of computers, memory, display everything has changed. Now computers are made in touch screen modes. With so many changes in technology, Computer mouse will be dead after some time. We are limited to two-dimensional movements but now researchers in US have developed the 3D touch.

It is a ‘thimble’ like device that sits on the end of your finger and enables you to interact with virtual world in three-dimensional fashion. This intelligent device interacts with computer and sensing its position accurately in three-dimensions. The device uses three types of sensors, a 3D accelerometer, a 3D magnetometer, and a 3D gyroscope to perform its task. This combination of sensors allows the data from each sensor to compared and combined to produce a far more precise estimate of orientation than a single measurement alone. The 3D touch has an optical flow sensor that measures the movement of device against a two-dimensional surface.

The device works by responding a set of programmed mouse like gestures, like selecting and dragging, finger tap, and click. These gestures allow the user to interact with objects in three-dimensions within the interface of the computer. A wire to an Arduino controller, which combines the data from all sensors and is then streamed to a laptop, connects the device. The team is now looking into taking the device from wired to wireless.


It will be small, unobtrusive, and easily portable. It will also work with existing devices like desktop PC, laptops. Along with this if, you have two devices then it can be worn on each hand to enable ‘multitouch’ interaction. Nguyen and Banic from the University of Wyoming in US have created this 3D touch device.

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