Turning a standard LCD monitor into touchscreen with a $5 wall-mounted sensor

GPS · Apr 25, 2013

I don't know if this is the touch screen technology I would choose, but the fact that this works and is even possible is unbelievable.

Researchers at the University of Washington’s aptly named Ubiquitous Computing Lab can turn any LCD monitor in your hous into a touchscreen, with nothing more than a $5 sensor that plugs into the wall and some clever software.

The technology, called uTouch, works by measuring the electromagnetic interference (EMI) caused by your hand when it moves near or touches an LCD monitor. This might sound a little bit crazy, but I’ll explain. Basically, the electricity running through the wires in your house has a unique electromagnetic signature. There is the “carrier wave,” provided by the power company and your nearby substation, and then every single kink and switch along the way modulates the EM signature until it is quite unique. What most people don’t realize, though, is that every device that is plugged into a wall outlet also changes your EM signature. Your TV doesn’t just suck power from your house — it’s a two-way street, with the electronic components in the TV producing interference that change your house’s EM signature.

Now, by plugging an EMI sensor into any wall socket, you can read your house’s EM signature — and if you continue to listen, you can detect changes in the signature. Obvious changes occur when a device is switched on or off, but it also turns out that simply moving your hand close to an LCD monitor also alters your house’s EM signature. It might sound a bit unbelievable, that a single finger moving towards an LCD monitor can be detected by a sensor at the other end of the house, but that’s exactly what the University of Washington researchers have accomplished.

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Source (ExtremeTech):
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/154258-turning-a-standard-lcd-monitor-into-touchscreen-with-a-5-wall-mounted-sensor

Nexus · Apr 25, 2013

I like this implementation a lot more.

https://www.leapmotion.com/

And from what I understand there are already support for Ubuntu 12.04 and later. $79 bucks, starts shipping next month.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6KuiuteIA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

GPS · Apr 27, 2013

I don't know if I really want to wave my hands and arms in front of my desktop screen.

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