New Human Interface gadget uses transparent screen & robot eyes.

I'm not a hardware geek by any means, but I couldn't resist tossing this one out there.  I happen to be one of those people that is very frustrated with the current state of user interface development.  Sure, AJAX and some of the WEB 2.0 technologies are great, but which technology is going to make the next great user interface leap?  Where is the next generation mouse and keyboard?

Transparent Gadget could trump iPhone interface.

A touch-sensitive gadget with the sensing panel on its back, instead of the screen, is being developed by US researchers. Using your fingers behind the device allows a firmer grip and more accurate performance without obscuring your view of the screen, they say.

Make sure you check out the You Tube video here. Now, I'm not saying that this is the next great break through, but I do like the innovation here.  When I use a touch screen, I obstruct the view of the screen with my hands.  Its also not ergonomically comfortable getting my hand to the necessary angle needed to make certain screen choices.

The idea of having your fingers be visible from the rear of a device is creative, but I don't think it'll fly.  Why? For the same reason I don't use touch pads on a laptop.  My hands aren't unusually huge, but my fingers tend to be too large for a small touch pad.  This is the same reason I use the Dvorak keyboard mapping. 

The limitation here is the screen (or touch sensor) size.  I can move a wireless mouse across as large a surface as I can find.  But on a device with 9 -16 sq. in. of sensor space I can only move each finger maybe 3/4 of an inch give or take.  Using a device like this I could be crippled with arthritis before my next birthday.

I think there are lots of great ideas is this area yet to be developed.  Eye movement tracking has potential, but I can tell already its going to make people nauseous.  Hand movement recognition has real possibilities, think Minority Report computer interface.  This looks like it could be quite the workout though, standing all day waving your hands, dragging stuff across 2 x 60" flat screens.  Rotator cuff inflammation and tendinitis epidemics are surely in our future. 

On to robot eyes.   Whats the number one reason we don't trust robots?  The countless movies we have all seen where the robots turn on humans and rip us all limb from limb?  You ask.  No, its because we don't trust their eyes.

Virtual Human has a roving eye

Humans and other animals do not steadily scan a scene. Instead, our eyes constantly dart around in rapid unconscious jerks known as 'saccades'. They pin-point interesting parts of the scene the brain uses to build up a 'mental map'.                                                                          

Gérard Bailly and colleagues in the GIPSA Lab at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France, have developed software that mimics human gaze patterns. Their characters are capable of saccades, tracking moving objects like humans, and fixing their gaze on the same features as humans for similar periods.

This is actually pretty intriguing technology.  A little creepy? Yeah.  But these types of interactions are going to become more and more common.  This comes back to the eye tracking technology I mentioned earlier, and how our eye movement can be interpreted to reveal where we are focused, and even our attention span.

Think of the how these technologies could be combined for automobile and aircraft safety.  Intelligent driver assistance systems that can monitor if you intend to make a lane change, or if you are just reaching for your fries and accidentally let go of the wheel.  Or if you happen to fall asleep sitting in traffic.  Lots of possibilities.