Forward-looking: The pandemic has made people more hygiene-aware, especially as Covid-19 can survive on surfaces for several hours. Some objects are touched by numerous people every day, such as elevator buttons, and not everyone remembers to wash their hands afterward. But one company has an idea about how to address the problem: touchless technology that replicates real actions.
As reported by Engadget, Singapore-based studio Stuck Design’s Kinetic Touchless is described as “Tactile responsive tech without the need for touch.” It goes beyond usual motion detection by replicating the effect of a user’s interaction.
In the example of elevator buttons, a person just needs to move a finger toward their floor number to activate the sensor. The button sinks inwards without physical contact as the hand gets closer, before returning to its original position.
Stuck Design says that Kinetic Touchless can be applied to more than just poking movements. It also works with gestures such as pushing, pulling, and even sliding.
“With contactless interactions on the rise in the face of COVID-19, most touchless tech tends towards a static sensor with a light or buzz to indicate an activated button, greatly diminishing the push button interaction,” writes the company.
“By going beyond the expected feedback of light and sound, Kinetic Touchless provides a surprisingly delightful and yet newly familiar way to interact with contactless technology.”
It certainly looks like the ideal technology to introduce during a pandemic, but while a working prototype has been created, it could be some time before we see Kinetic Touchless tech in elevators.
