This robotic accessory for your smartphone will gently caress your hand

Our smartphones are cold, passive devices that usually can not move independently if they do not fall on our faces while we watch them in bed. A research team in France is studying ways to change this by giving our smartphones the opportunity to interact more with us (via New scientist). MobiLimb is a robotic finger accessory that plugs into a smartphone's Micro USB port, moves with five servos, and is powered by an Arduino microcontroller. It can tap on the user's hand in response to phone notifications, be used as a joystick or, with the addition of a small blurred sheath accessory, it can turn into a cat's tail.

MobiLimb is a research project by Marc Teyssier, PhD student, and his team from French universities. Teyssier shares more process photos on his website, as well as a detailed explanation of the project. "In the spirit of human augmentation, which aims to overcome the limitations of the human body using robotic devices, our approach aims to overcome the limitations of mobile devices (static, passive, immobile) using a robotic member He writes.

There is really a worrying and scary way in the way it moves. This may be how his lifeless phone hangs on the table to let you know that you have a new message. Or maybe it is the human flesh cover of the finger that turns it into a dismembered figure? I can not put my MobiLimb on it.

Again, maybe a finger gently stroking your wrist is not so different from those disembodied limbs we love to rest our head on at the end of a long day to replace the loving touch of a boyfriend or of a girlfriend. Are you OK?