NailO turns your thumbnail into a mini trackpad

Researchers from MIT are developing a miniature device - NailO, that transforms your thumbnail into a trackpad. The tiny device can be used with smartphone, tablet or computer. It pairs with the devices via Bluetooth.

NailO helps user in performing simple tasks on the go. For example, you are reading a recipe on your device and cooking at the same time. You want to scroll down to see the next step, but you are hands are full because you are cooking. 

With NailO you can easily scroll the page with the use of trackpad. Just swipe the touch surface and it will send a command to scroll down the page.

One of the team member, Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao an MIT graduate student said that the device was inspired by the colorful stickers that some women apply to their nails. The team is planning to mix a sense of fashion into the device by offering interchangeable outer covering with different colors to match the overall theme of the user.

The NailO prototype features capacitive sensors, a battery, antenna and three separate chips - a micro-controller, Bluetooth radio chip and capacitive sensing chip.

The team will present the NailO prototype at the upcoming CHI 2015 human-computer interaction conference in Seoul, South Korea.

Via : Liliputing