Control anything you touch

Since I'm still obsessively stroking the Prada's screen, I'm all about the capacitive touch panels lately.  Zero-pressure touch sensitivity is so blissfully Star Trek that I'd like to see it all over the place, but up until now the limiting factor has been the sort of materials sensors can detect through.  Now, however, QSI Corp have developed a system which should see capacitive touch make a much greater impact all over.

InfiniTouch is a new version of the system which can turn any rigid or semi-rigid surface into a control that not only registers X and Y movement but also the degree of pressure used.  While the obvious implementation is computing – think Tablet PCs with the accuracy of an active display but the non-stylus-specific ease of use of a passive panel – there are also limitless applications in areas where traditional controls are prone to damage, wear and tear or just not interesting enough.

The waterfall elevator control, shown above, is just one such suggestion by QSI.  I'd tell you to look out for InfiniTouch controls hitting everyday life soon, but since they're invisible you'll just have to feel out for them.

InfiniTouch [via CrunchGear]