If the touch-sensitive navigation wheel on your iPod isn’t an impressive enough control interface then why not try showing Apple’s all-conquering music and media player a little suggestive affection and see if that has any direct effect on governing track selection.
Japanese researcher reveals "Temple Switch" eye-based iPod control interface. Credit: | Spoon |/Flickr.
More pointedly, a Japanese researcher from Osaka University’s Graduate School of Engineering Science has this week claimed that he’s come up with a way for people to operate their iPods by merely winking at them with eye motions.
While it may sound distinctly like science fiction, “Temple Switch” interface developer Kazuhiro Taniguchi believes that his unusual iPod control method could well become a reality in the near future.
The system, which is small enough to be built into a pair of eyeglasses, consists of a tiny single-chip computer and infrared sensors that monitor temple movements in the user.
Control instructions would see users fully closing both eyes in order to fire up their waiting iPods, while another full close would turn it off again. Also, a right-eye wink would make the machine skip forward to the next track, while a left-eye wink would cause it to jump backwards one track.
It has been suggested the interface would be perfect for those not able to free a hand for direct physical control, such as rock climbers, caregivers, motorbike riders, the disabled and even astronauts.
“You don’t have to worry about the system moving incorrectly as the system picks up signals when you close your eyes firmly,” explained Taniguchi in an AFP report.
“You can use this when you’re eating or chatting with someone,” he said before adding that the system is easily able to correctly identify a natural blink against a purposeful one-second wink, especially considering the speed and weight differences that separate the two actions.
Beyond its development for the hugely popular iPod, Temple Switch units can also control television sets, air conditioning systems and other household appliances.
Furthermore, Taniguchi believes the interface will eventually become “an ultimate remote control” device, capable of operating mobile phone handsets, powered wheelchairs, and even robotic creations.
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