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There was a time in history when we thought that sticks for selfies were the strangest smartphone accessory that could exist. Now, an unusual new attachment, quite confusing, will make you reconsider. Called MobiLimb, it is a robotic finger that plugs into your smartphone and crawls on the ground, showing signs of attack. Imagine a new iPhone feature designed by The devilish death director Sam Raimi, and you will begin to get the idea.
"MobiLimb is composed of five small servo motors, enclosed in a 3D printed shell," said Marc Teyssier, a human-computer interaction researcher who helped create the device at Digital Trends. "Everything is driven with an Arduino board, and it uses the Android OTG connection for power consumption and data transmission."
For a device consisting of relatively simple technologies, MobiLimb manages to be extremely realistic and versatile. In addition to dragging the "body" of his smartphone on a table, he can also shake like a tail, tap on a surface to indicate that a notification has been received, act as a flashlight etc. Heck, if you wish, he can even caress your hand while you talk on the phone. For what better way is there to inspire other commuters who return home after a busy day of work?
"The starting point for this project was the human touch for social communication, which is the subject of my PhD. thesis, continues Teyssier. "In real communication, we use touch to communicate emotions with others. However, current technology does not use touch as an information channel. This project is only one of the possible approaches to receive a remote contact. Another aspect of this work is the relationship we build with our mobile devices. Because they are always in our hands or our pockets, smartphones become companions for humans – but, for the moment, they remain a cold and flat technology. "
The MobiLimb team created several versions of the finger, including the plain black plastic version (as regular as possible), a fur version and a flesh-shaped variant created with the help of a visual effects artist. The prototype is expected to be presented this month at the ACM User Interface Software and Technology conference in Berlin.
Do not expect to be able to buy one so soon. "We have not yet intended to market it," Teyssier said. "It's a research project at a prototype phase. His goal was to explore such devices – and judging by the reactions and comments on the Internet, people are not yet ready to use it. "
An article describing the project is available for reading online.
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