Conductive Paint Transforms Walls Into Sensors, Interactive Surfaces
A new technology innovation has unfolded, with a bit of conductive paint and a custom sensor board, you might be able to create a DIY giant touchpad in your living room.
Our homes are gradually getting smarter with more and more appliances and tools turning into IoT devices that can be controlled via apps or smart speakers or both. Now there is a third way on the horizon, one that wouldn't require picking up a phone or even uttering a word.
Introducing Wall++, a prototype ‘smart wall' born from the collaboration of Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research. The Wall++ is a low-cost sensing approach that allows walls to become a smart infrastructure treatment that enables a large area of a home to be turned into a giant touchpad.
Instead of merely separating spaces, walls can now enhance rooms with sensing and interactivity. The wall treatment and sensing hardware can track users’ touch and gestures, as well as estimate body pose if they are close. By capturing airborne electromagnetic noise, we can also detect what appliances are active and where they are located.
It essentially involves the application of conductive paint in specific patterns to create electrodes and a custom sensor board, in a process that turns a regular wall into Wall++ "an electromagnetic sensor to detect and track electrical devices and appliances."
The wall recognises gestures, such as taps and swipes, as well as having the ability to detect people and devices that are close by.
So potentially, instead of saying “Hey Google, dim living room lights” -- you simply wave a hand. And maybe another arm movement would trigger the TV to turn on, who knows, a combination of dance steps might get a whole array of devices to wake up.
Have a look below..
Edited by Neo Sesinye
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