Disney's Smartwatch Prototype

Disney’s Smartwatch Prototype Can Identify and Track Everything You Touch (+Video)

Proof-of-concept detects the electromagnetic noise given off by everyday objects.

Ron Amadeo | November 10, 2015

Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University have hacked together a proof-of-concept smartwatch that uses electromagnetic noise profiles to detect, in real-time, when the wearer is touching an item. The group calls the idea "EM-Sense."
Many everyday objects give off some amount of electromagnetic (EM) noise, and when your squishy, conductive body comes into contact with an item, its EM signals enter your body. Disney's proof-of-concept augments a smartwatch to be able to read those signals, and apparently the signals are unique enough that the watch can discern and reliably identify different objects. The EM signals have to be classified beforehand, but Disney says that "discrimination between dozens of objects is feasible, independent of wearer, time, and local environment." Basically, you touch your laptop, and the smartwatch knows you're touching your laptop.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/disney-smartwatch-knows-what-youre-touching-tells-you-what-do-n461741

<more at http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/11/disneys-smartwatch-prototype-can-identify-and-track-everything-you-touch/; related links: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/disney-smartwatch-knows-what-youre-touching-tells-you-what-do-n461741 (Disney Smartwatch Knows What You're Touching and Tells You What to Do Next. November 11, 2015) and http://www.gizmag.com/disney-smartwatch-objects/40338/ (EM-Sense tech expands IoT by telling smartwatches what their users are touching. November 10, 2015)>