This E-Skin Uses Magnetic Fields for Gesture Control

Most of the advancements in consumer technology these days are making one requirement in particular very clear: we need a better way to interact with devices we can’t actually touch. Wearables, AR and VR, projection displays, and so on all require non-traditional human interface devices (HIDs). Keyboards and touchscreens just aren’t going to cut it when there is no room for them, or when the device you want to interact with just isn’t tangible.

There is a lot of R&D going into solving this problem, and most of it involves gesture control. The ultimate goal is to find a solution that’s as unobtrusive as possible. That means no bulky devices, which is where a new electronic skin from Germany’s Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf research lab excels.

The e-skin is a thin wearable film that uses magnetic fields to track gestures. The technology consists of two components: one which generates a magnetic field, and a second which is used to manipulate that field. Those manipulations can then be tracked and translated for fine gesture control.

The major downside of the system is the need for a permanent magnet. But, the researchers working on the e-skin believe that they can ultimately get the system working with the magnetic fields surrounding the Earth itself. That would mean the unobtrusive skin is all that’s needed.