• Home
  • Trends
  • Company News
  • Product News
  • Fashion
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • About
  • Contact
  • May 9, 2025

Wearable Tech Insider

The Inside Word on Wearables and Wearable Technology

You are here: Home / Trends / SmartTrack: A Touchpad Within Arm’s Reach

SmartTrack: A Touchpad Within Arm’s Reach

July 11, 2016 By Pugi Kohl

SkinTrackSmartwatches put a powerful computer on your wrist, but at the cost of a little bitty screen and keyboard. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute’s Future Interfaces Group are working on that, turning your arm into an interactive surface.

SmartTrack turns your forearm into a swiping, touching input device from wrist to elbow. Unlike other similar systems, there’s no camera involved. SmartTrack users wear a ring that sends a signal via high-frequency AC current to your finger. When your finger touches your arm, the signal moves along your arm and interacts with electronics in the watch’s wristband.

CMU Ph.D. candidates Gierad Laput talked to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about it:

Not only is the interaction area small, but your finger actually blocks much of the screen when you’re using it. Input tends to be pretty basic, confined to a few buttons or some directional swipes. So our question was: How do you make the smartwatch bigger without actually making it bigger?”

The CMU research team says the device can accurately determine when a finger touches skin 99% of the time, and can resolve touch location with a mean error of 7.6mm. Here’s how it looks:

 

You need to keep the ring charged and the signals can vary if you wear when it is worn a long time, due to sweat and motion. So keep your hands dry and think of it as the One Ring: keep it in your pocket and wear only when you really need it.

Last updated by Pugi Kohl on February 1, 2017.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: General News, Other, Trends Tagged With: Carnegie Mellon University, input, smartwatch

← Canalys Predicts 7.5M Cellular Smartwatches This Year; 54M by 2020 A Blast from the Future of Baseball →

Recent Posts

New Use Case for Apple Watch: Red Sox Stealing Signs

Fossil Debuts Two Android Wear Smartwatches

Garmin Shows Three New Fitness Bands at IFA

Fitbit Ionic: Minimal Acceptable Product?

Intel (Finally) Ditches Wearables for AR

Don’t Believe Everything You Read: Wearables Are Far From Dead

Eyes F.lashing Before Your Life

Smarty Pants: Nadi X Yoga Leggings

Rings: How Smart Can They Be?

Upskill Closes Series B Financing, But Won’t Say How Much

Stories from Health Tech Insider

  • Remote Monitoring Drives New Personalized Treatment for Chronic Breathing Problems
  • Wearable Technology Listens for Knee Damage [video]
  • New Bandages Promise Faster Healing for Stubborn Wounds
  • CVS Acquires Telehealth Service to Bring Healthcare to the Home
  • Masimo’s New Smartwatch Addresses Privacy Concerns
  • Continuous Real-Time Diagnostics On the Go [video]

Topics

2013 android android wear apple apple watch apx labs basis battery CES ces2016 CES2017 epson finance fitbit fitness fossil fuelband garmin gear glass google healthkit intel iWatch jawbone LG market research microsoft misfit MWC15 nfc nike omate omsignal pebble recon samsung smartwatch sony sports tizen vuzix withings wristware wristwear

Copyright 2016 Center Ring Media | Site by JRMC