Researchers at the University of Cambridge, in partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, wanted to build a touchscreen system that would reduce the time that drivers spent looking away from the road and tapping on the screens in their cars. The result is called “predictive touch,” and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like.
Using cameras and/or RF-based sensors, predictive touch tracks a user’s hand and finger movements to try to predict what they’re going to do next. It also pays attention to what might currently be running on their infotainment system, like music or navigation, to make it more accurate. And it can be used with eye trackers and other sensors in order to figure out what the driver wants to do. Creepy, but admittedly useful in a moving vehicle when you should be watching the road.
In tests both in driving simulators as well as the real world, the team found that their technology reduced the time that a driver had to touch their infotainment system by about 50 percent. It stands to reason, then, that using it on other touchscreens, like ATMs, could reduce potential exposure to viruses left on the screen by other users.
