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Hands-free like you’ve never seen it!
Sat, 1st Oct 2011
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Researchers in Potsdam, Germany have found a way to make us even lazier – a new interface that allows you to keep your phone in your pocket or purse when answering calls. Forget the hassle of pushing a button or touching your screen, this new hands-free will let your answer your phone by simply tapping your hand!The idea is to create a system that allows users to perform everyday smartphone actions by tapping their hand. The system will work using a depth-sensitive camera positioned on a tripod. The camera will remove the background and track the finger position on the user’s palm. Software will then automatically analyse this information and correlate it to the position of the icons on the phone. Finally, a wireless radio transmits the movements to the phone itself and, voila!The scientists have said this will prove beneficial for tricky situations like answering a ringing phone when your hands are full or wet. But of course it will take some getting used to – users will have to memorize where icons are located on their smartphone interface and be able to accurately mimic the actions they would take if using the physical phone.