14 DAY TRIAL // The word “touch” has come to mean a lot of things on the IT industry. As long as something interprets finger or stylus taps and swipes, it is a touch-capable device, even if the method used to translate the movements isn't based on tactile interaction.
That is why the newest technology invented by Fujitsu qualifies as a touch input system, even though it is closer to motion control from a technical standpoint.
The next-generation user interface technology uses several cameras together with a projector, in order to trace a finger across a document on a table, copy it as digital data, and display it.
This is what permits people to touch book pages, sheets of paper, and do many other things, even responding to the actions in convenient ways.
The projector is accurate enough to scan text from a book, for instance. A person just needs to trace a paragraph or sentence and the system will store it in whatever host PC or gadget is linked to it.
The company has envisioned maps and brochures that pop up extra details, all the while lacking in built-in hardware.
Projecting copied data on a tabletop is possible too, as is expanding and shrinking the projected image by tracing it with a finger.
Even graphics data from handwritten sticky notes attached to a table can be captured and processed, allowing users to move the digitalized notes around.
“This new technology makes it possible to easily have interactions with actual objects and serve as an interface between people and ICT services, thereby helping to expand the ways in which ICT is employed,” Fujitsu explains in its announcement.
Fujitsu hopes to get the technology in practical applications at some point in its fiscal year 2014.
In the meantime, it will make sure everything works well, especially the main features: recognizing and converting coordinates of physical objects and ICT equipment, stabilization of finger recognition technology, and accurate and rapid fingertip recognition technology.
