Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Daniel Vogel/youTube

This keyboard's keys will respond differently to whatever finger you use

Pressing the same key with your index finger or middle finger will yield different results.

KEYBOARDS COME WITH various combinations to allow more complex actions like Ctrl + A to select all or using the Shift key to capitalise a letter, but this keyboard may be able to tell what you want just by how you press a key.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada has developed a keyboard that watches your hands so it knows what finger you use to press a key, and what action to take.

Using a reflector and a built-in laptop camera, it can identify fingers as well as hand positioning to figure out the right action.

For example, if you press the letter G with your index finger, it will work as normal, but pressing it with your thumb or little finger would carry out an entirely different action.

If you were using a word processor, pressing H in different ways will create different headings or if you’re signed into a program.

headings keyboard Daniel Vogel / YouTube Daniel Vogel / YouTube / YouTube

Other things they’ve experimented with include two-finger presses like letting you log out of a program if you press L this way.

While two key-combinations aren’t that hard to pull off, the researchers designed it as a way to help programmers, video editors, graphic designers and anyone else who use more complex programs for their work.

Daniel Vogel / YouTube

Read: These are some of the odder training methods used to make smarter computers

Read: Will this guy appear in cinemas again? Nintendo is certainly working on it >

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
4 Comments
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
    JournalTv
    News in 60 seconds