Disney Watch Using electromagnetic signature detection, the EMSense watch can unlock laptops or electronic office doors with a touch.
The EMSense technology developed by Disney and Carnegie Mellon University detects small amounts of electromagnetic signals to identify what your body is in contact with. Using a clever hack, it works with objects that emit an EM signal (which is close to everything electrical or electromechanical we touch today).
Many electromagnetic objects, like a laptop touchpad or a doorknob, emit signals that are too weak for any particular use until now. The EMSense measures these trace amount of EM signals that propagate through the human body. The patterns form this detections can then be compared to a library for identification.
In the video below, it showed that an electric drill will emit a different EM pattern than a circular saw or a toothbrush. In such devices, the amount of power to the motor also alters the EM pattern.
When you grab a toothbrush, the watch can tell and start a brushing timer. Once the watch detects you touching the stove to heat up your morning water, it can automatically stream the morning news. Once it senses your hands are on the handle bars of your motorcycle, it can call out estimated time of arrival.
In the office, touching doorknobs can make the watch remind you of upcoming meetings and tasks and once you lock your office doors after office hours, the watch can read out errands you might otherwise forget.
An obvious game-changing benefit of the technology is that it is very backward-compatible. You don’t need a Wi-Fi-enabled refrigerator, a high-tech car nor connected tools for the watch to work. And also,if you’re touching your computer, it could also help you unlock your computer without having to type a password.
