Interface

Using touchscreens or buttons to control devices isn't always practical, and voice commands may not work in loud environments. A new system offers an alternative, in that it utilizes acoustic waves which travel across the surface of existing objects.

In order for surgeons to maintain sterility in the operating room, they certainly shouldn't be using touchscreens. A new wearable, however, may allow them to navigate content such as preoperative planning diagrams, without touching the screen.

University of Washington researchers have improved on their direct brain-to-brain connection technology involving pairs of volunteers sending signals from one person’s brain to another over the internet to directly govern the motions of the receiving person’s hand.

New research at the University of Chicago suggests that it is possible to map the individual finger pads of a prosthetic hand to the corresponding parts of the brain. In other words, prosthetic hands which offer a realistic sense of touch may theoretically be possible.

DARPA has instituted programs to improve neural interfaces and allow amputees to have better control of advanced prostheses in the near term.

Researchers at Duke University have achieved telepathy-like brain to brain communication between rats.

A group at MIT Media Lab has produced a light bulb-sized device capable of turning any surface into a touch screen interface.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories announce a breakthrough in prosthetics that may one day allow artificial limbs to be controlled by their wearers as naturally as organic ones and provide sensations of touch and feeling.

Research from the University of Maryland have successfully reconstructed 3D hand movements by decoding electrical brain signals picked up from sensors placed on the scalps of volunteers

Starkey Laboratories' Sweep Technology replaces all the traditional hearing aid buttons and dials with a touch surface that allows users to adjust volume and change settings with a sweep or touch of a finger.