Facebook, a social media company, today shared on its website recent research in which wrist typing combined with available but limited context-aware artificial intelligence (AI) that dynamically adjusts to the individual and the environment could lead to faster typing than the keyboard in the future with augmented reality (AR).
Facebook noted that Facebook Reality Labs, a research lab that brings together top researchers, developers and engineers, is building an augmented reality (AR) interface that will allow users to operate devices without being forced to ignore their surroundings. Facebook is developing a more natural and intuitive way to interact with the readily available AR glasses, which promises to change the way users connect with the people around them.
Andrew Bosworth, who leads the Facebook Reality Labs team, said he imagines that people can teleport around the world and share experiences with the people they value most, no matter where they are. That’s the future of AR glasses, he said, combining the real world with virtual environments.
Facebook Reality Labs believes that the future of human-machine interaction requires an interface that is ultra-low friction, easy to use, extremely reliable and private, while allowing the user to maintain a complete connection to the real world at all times. Such an interface will require a variety of innovations, the two most critical of which are context-aware AI that understands the user’s commands, actions, context and surroundings, and a way to communicate effortlessly with the system and issue commands.
However, it will take many years before such a system is possible. As a result, Facebook Reality Labs is exploring a more likely version of “wrist-based input” for the near future, combined with context-aware AI with limited functionality that dynamically adjusts to the person’s situation and environment.
In exploring the possibilities for input, Facebook Reality Labs found that placing the input device at the wrist was the clear answer. The wrist is a location where wearing the watch can be reasonably integrated into everyday Life and social orientation. This position lends itself to 24/7 wear and is also in close proximity to the hands, the primary tool of interaction with the world. Another benefit of a wrist-worn device is that it can easily serve as a platform for computing, batteries and antennas, and can support a variety of sensors.
While Facebook Reality Labs has not yet found a clear path to multiple input capabilities, it has found EMG (electromyography) to be the most promising and ideal solution. EMG uses sensors to translate the motor nerve signals that flow from the spinal cord through the wrist to the hand into digital commands that allow people to control various functions of the device.
Facebook Reality Labs believes it is likely that eventually people will be able to type at high speed with EMGs on their desks or knees, perhaps even faster than today’s existing keyboards.
Facebook Reality Labs is currently exploring a series of single-study prototypes that it hopes will help understand the haptic feedback mechanism of the wrist device. One prototype, called the Bellowband, is a soft, lightweight wristband with eight pneumatic bellows distributed around the wrist, which can be controlled by the air inside the bellows to give interesting pressure and vibration haptic feedback.
Another prototype is called Tasbi, which stands for “Tactile and Squeeze Bracelet Interface”. The research lab has used the ripples and Tasbi to experiment with different modes of virtual interaction, such as testing virtual buttons of different hardnesses and moving virtual objects with different tactile sensations.
“This cutting-edge research on haptic feedback has convinced us that multiple and rich communication is possible. The public can learn language through touch or through wrist devices alone.” Sean Keller, director of research science at Facebook Reality Labs, said this new field is now growing and thriving, and most of the changes are coming from richer and more diverse wrist-based haptic feedback systems.
Recent Comments