Indian origin professor brings smart hands closer to reality

London: In a boost to the idea of human hand becoming an ideal display screen for the next generation of smartwatches and other devices, an Indian-origin scientist-led team has created tactile sensations on the palm using ultrasound sent through the hand.

The research -- funded by the Nokia Research Centre and the European Research Council - is the first to find a way for users to feel what they are doing when interacting with displays projected on their hand.

According to professor Sriram Subramanian from University of Sussex, technologies will inevitably need to engage other senses such as touch as we enter into an “eye-free” age of technology.

“Wearables are already big business and will only get bigger. But as we wear technology more, it gets smaller and we look at it less, and therefore multisensory capabilities become much more important,” Subramanian added.

The new innovation called SkinHaptics sends sensations to the palm from the other side of the hand, leaving the palm free to display the screen. The device uses “time-reversal” processing to send ultrasound waves through the hand.