Researchers Develop ‘Sonar’ Touchscreen

Researchers from the University of Washington have developed a new form of sonar-based touchscreen technology.

We’ve covered similar stories of projection-based touchscreen technology before on our blog. What makes the University of Washington’s project different, however, is that it uses the speakers and microphones of a smartphone, tablet, wearable electronic, etc. to turn nearly any surface into a working touchscreen interface.

Known as “FingerIO,” it may sound like science fiction, but the technology creates a touchscreen interface on virtually any surface by emitting sound waves by the device’s speakers. Most smartphones and similar electronic devices have built-in speakers for playing audio. The FingerIO uses these speakers to project sonar waves on nearby surfaces, which are then translates into a fully functional touchscreen interface. The project’s team of researchers demonstrated the technology in a recent video, showing a user drawing on a digital paper.

This project is truly unique in the sense that it doesn’t require additional hardware to project the touchscreen interface. Most other projection-based touchscreen devices and technologies rely on other hardware. The FingerIO, however, eliminates the need for additional hardware by using the speakers and microphone of the device itself. And best of all, gestures can be performed with or without a direct line of sight, as sonar sound waves can be  detected through fabric and other materials.

“You can’t type very easily onto a smartwatch display, so we wanted to transform a desk or any area around a device into an input surface,” said Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, the project’s lead researcher. “I don’t need to instrument my fingers with any other sensors – I just use my finger to write something on a desk or any other surface and the device can track it with high resolution.”

So, when will the FingerIO be made available to the public? Unfortunately, that question remains unanswered at this time. Researchers have created a prototype for use with the Samsung Galaxy S4, which was demonstrated in its video. Being that it’s still in the early stages of development, however, it could be months or even years before the FingerIO launches for general availability — or, it may never be released. In any case, you can check back with our blog here at En-Touch for all of the latest news surrounding sonar, projection and other forms of touchscreen technology.