This new Predictive Touch Technology could revolutionize smartphones

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2016-05-17 18:18

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Edited by brian_rodrigues at 2016-05-17 16:08


In the decade since high-tech smartphones phased out the push-button keyboard, designers have been hunting for ways to make touch-typing easier, smarter, and less prone to inaccurate autocorrects. That chase may soon be over. Microsoft recently released an article from a research unit testing a smartphone screen that knows what users plan to touch before their finger hits the glass. The Redmond, Washington–based company’s “predictive touch” technology would allow users to operate such functions as texting by using a single hand. The new technology, should Microsoft roll it out with their next-generation smartphones, would be able to predict what its users will click based on the position of their hand hovering above the screen.

 

Assuming the company follows through with its innovative research, consumers may be on the verge of a Microsoft-fueled change in the way we interact with our smartphones. When phones recognize the pre-tap location of your fingers, for example, application developers can integrate fascinating anticipatory changes: video controls that appear milliseconds before you contact the screen (no more intrusive play button blocking your TV show), or hyperlinks highlighted as you approach, making frustrating accidental clicks to the wrong news article a thing of the past.

 

While the technology is still in its infancy, Microsoft’s concept is proof we won’t be saddled with the current frustrations surrounding touch-typing. Soon, our phones will know exactly what's on our mind—whether we want them to or not.