Say Goodbye to Hand Use Technology, the Skinput is Here.

When cell phones first hit the tech world, people thought the concept was crazy. I bet they thought, “A phone you can carry around WITH you? That’s just unheard of!” A lot of people - - scratch that most people, value the convenience of a cell phone. They’re small, pretty easy to use, and you’re now able to use them pretty much anywhere.

But what if you didn’t have to carry it around with you at all? People would probably think, “What? Now THAT is crazy.” Well, I’m here to inform you that a guy named Chris Harrison is about to make it happen.

It’s called the Skinput.

Harrison, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University and a former intern at Microsoft Research, has developed a working prototype of a system called Skinput. With this new piece of technology, you’re able to dial your phone, play a game, or listen to your iPod, all at the push of…your skin.

Yes that’s right. The Skinput is a piece of new technology that would allow a person to tap their thumb and middle finger together to answer a call; touch their forearm to go to the next track on a music player; or flick the center of their palm to select a menu item. All of this would be controlled by an armband, containing 10 muscle sensors that strap around their elbow.

The Skinput user taps their index finger and thumb together which send a ripple effect of vibrations into the sensor, thereby allowing it to determine the users request. This new invention isn’t quite consumer ready yet, but the prototype is promising in every kind of fantastic way. Harrison expects it to be ready in 2-5 years.

The Skinput is sitting on the horizon of technological genius.

Geeks get ready, the future is here.