Google Patent Could Make Touchpads Of Clothes Or Objects

Google is a tech company that does seem to have their fingers dipped into just about everything, where their latest patent application has been published to showcase an invention that will be able to transform just about any object or piece of clothing into a touchpad, now how about that? Dubbed as “interactive textiles”, several examples include placing a tiny square on the likes of a hat, a purse, or even a jacket and cup – the possibilities are endless.

This would definitely be a step in the right direction for the world to make its move in an all encompassing IoT (Internet of Things) experience, as the idea of turning any physical item into a remote/device is surely noteworthy. Interactive Textiles has been described to include “a grid of conductive thread woven into the interactive textile to form a capacitive touch sensor “.

Not only that, Google requires a method to identify people in the store in order to sell “click to door” ads, so that retailers can rely on these ads to be a factor in driving foot traffic – hence a device which is hooked up to existing POS systems, letting them do this at scale and quickly. A customer identifier will be based on check-in, GPS and other features that will then feature an image of the customer the moment they step into the store, which might raise some eyebrows concerning privacy.

Not too long ago, another Google patent that we talked about pointed to the possibility of self-driving delivery trucks, where it would bring about an amalgamation of previous ideas like Amazon’s drone delivery program as well as pickup lockers, save for the fact that Google is “repackaging” that into a self-driving truck which will let you collect your own parcels. It is not as though they don’t have experience with self-driving cars, right?

Research provided by legal technology firm ClientSide.

Edwin Kee
Categories: General
Tags: Google, Patent