The Apple Watch 2 is shaping up to be leagues better than its predecessor. The sheer number of upgrades will make anyone happy, but it’s the touchscreen that really stands out. Here are five things to know about.
1. APPLE WANTS YOU TO TOUCH YOURSELF
Surely you already have a long list of reasons to touch yourself, but now, Apple is giving you one more. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are looking into a unique way to operate the Apple Watch 2. The method will involve making the skin on your arms act as a touchscreen for the smartwatch.
2. ONE RING TO RULE THEM ALL
This unique skin touchscreen will use a signal-emitting ring worn on a finger in order to communicate with a sensor attached to the Apple Watch 2. When the finger ring touches the skin a signal will spread across the arm. Using the distance between the ring and four pairs of electrodes will help establish a position of the finger in 2D space.
3. YOUR SKIN WILL BECOME A CREATIVE CANVASS
You’ve always thought your skin was special, and now you can show off its creativity by using it as a canvas. By dragging apps of the Apple Watch, you can place them on parts of your arm, creating shortcuts back to whatever app you choose. Facebook can be right on your forearm while Twitter is a few inches down by the forearm. It’s almost like you’re a cyborg but not as cool.
4. HOTKEY COMMANDS
Trace an N on your hand. Good job, you just opened up a news app. Now draw an S. Perfect, you just silenced that call from your mother. Be careful where you draw that P however, you don’t want that Pornhub app opening on the subway. If you want to swipe and scroll through your apps, just do so on your skin to activate. Many people will probably look at you weird at first, but as it catches on, everyone will be touching themselves.
5. DON’T GET TOO EXCITED JUST YET
At the moment, there are no solid plans in place to commercialize this technology however it’s gaining some heavy traction amongst the tech powers that be. It’s only a matter of time before skin touch becomes commonplace. The future will be weird.
