Gizmo in the works: control iPod with your teeth
Having to use your hands when browsing through music in your iPod can get really annoying (such a pain, really), so the tech savvy Japanese decided to develop a nifty gadget that allows control of your iPod by clenching your teeth. That’s right, no need to squeeze your arms through people in packed trains to play the song you want.
The folks from Osaka University came up with the ingenious idea. Through a head gear equipped with infrared sensors, the actions of your teeth can now be enough to command your iPod. Clenching your teeth for around a second will issue orders, removing worries of the gadget activating when you talk or eat.
Laboratory head Fumio Miyazaki explained the idea, saying, “You are able to operate the devices without using your hands. You would be able to listen to music hands-free or operate your cellphone in a crowded train. Handicapped people would also be able to move wheelchairs.”
Or at least, that’s what they’re planning. This little gizmo is yet to see a commercial release, and some money and man hours are still getting invested into research that will allow hand-free controls of mobile phones, wheelchairs, and other electronic devices in the near future.
Having to use your hands when browsing through music in your iPod can get really annoying (such a pain, really), so the tech savvy Japanese decided to develop a nifty gadget that allows control of your iPod by clenching your teeth. That’s right, no need to squeeze your arms through people in packed trains to play the song you want.
The folks from Osaka University came up with the ingenious idea. Through a head gear equipped with infrared sensors, the actions of your teeth can now be enough to command your iPod. Clenching your teeth for around a second will issue orders, removing worries of the gadget activating when you talk or eat.
Laboratory head Fumio Miyazaki explained the idea, saying, “You are able to operate the devices without using your hands. You would be able to listen to music hands-free or operate your cellphone in a crowded train. Handicapped people would also be able to move wheelchairs.”
Or at least, that’s what they’re planning. This little gizmo is yet to see a commercial release, and some money and man hours are still getting invested into research that will allow hand-free controls of mobile phones, wheelchairs, and other electronic devices in the near future.