Researchers have developed a technology that allows the smartwatch to control a large number of objects
Did you know that your smartwatch can be used to turn on the light? All it will take is a small modification to the accelerometer and the smartwatch will turn into a formidable gesture device. Not just a fitness tracker, but much more.
The project was developed at Carneige Mellon University, where a research group of the Future Interface Group, by increasing the clock frequency of an LG smartwatch, has shown how the device is able to detect and distinguish every single vibration. In practice, the wearable, in addition to monitoring our health, can be used to control a range of IoT objects thanks to its ability to detect even the smallest oscillation or audio signal. Questo significa che lo smartwatch, essendo estremamente sensibile, è anche capace di riconoscere un numero elevato di movimenti. Sarà sufficiente schioccare un dito e l’orologio smart interpreterà il segnale.
Una modifica all’accelerometro
Per capire come funziona il progetto realizzato dal gruppo di ricerca dobbiamo partire dall’accelerometro. Il sensore di misurazione è usato dallo smartwatch per captare il movimento di un braccio e quindi capire quando deve attivare lo schermo. L’accelerometro normalmente ha una frequenza di clock di 100Hz. Per aumentare la “sensibilità” dello smartwatch i ricercatori hanno modificato il kernel Linux dell’orologio LG per riuscire a catturare oltre 4000 dati al secondo prodotti dall’acceleremetro. In questo modo il dispositivo è in grado di rilevare anche i segnali bioacustici. Translated it means that a wearable can understand if a person is moving a finger, if he has placed the palm of his hand on his forehead or if he has gripped an object.
What uses?
Thanks to the discovery of the U.S. university it will be possible to use the smartwatch in a different way
The technology that the group called ViBand can be used to turn the smartwatch into a gesture device. Researchers have developed a number of applications that, by taking advantage of the smartwatch, can be used to control a large number of objects. If ViBand is commercialized, users will be able to turn on a light, launch a movie or tune a guitar, simply by using the wearable's ability to detect motion. The group is also reportedly planning to bring the watch to pick up audio signals that aren't normally audible.