Scientists come up with “invisible” phone

The researchers at Potsdam University in Germany have come up with a revolutionary idea in the world of mobile phones: the invisible phone. Well it’s not really an invisible phone per say – that would be quite impossible to achieve, but the researchers have discovered a way to let you use the palm of your hand as the phone’s touchscreen. Whatever you press on your palm will be translated to a touch on the screen of your phone instead.

The technology they use is similar to the Microsoft’s motion sensor control: the Kinect. They demonstrated this concept with an Apple iPhone and released a video showing it off, and it sure looks quite impressive albeit clunky. It turns out that 68% of iPhone users can locate the majority of their home screen apps on their hand, so it wasn’t a major problem for them controlling the device with no screen.

As for now, it sure feels very limited to what you can use this technology for. I.e. you could answer calls while your phone was still in your bag or pocket, provided you have a Bluetooth headset paired to the phone. But instead of having to make invisible swipes on your palm, why not just press the answer button on the Bluetooth instead? I can’t think of any other way where using a phone in this way would be better than using the phone itself. But hey, it is a breakthrough in technology after all. Watch the video demonstration:

George Wong
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: germany