Google has been actively exploring ways to expand virtual interactions beyond touchscreens and voice assistants. After pioneering touch-sensitive denim jackets and hands-free radar phone controls, Google’s research division is now experimenting with weaving technology into fabrics.
Called “E-Textiles,” the concept takes advantage of textile braiding techniques to enable cords to sense gestures. This could potentially allow people to, for instance, control their music by pinching the wire of their headphones or skipping the track by twisting their hoodie’s strings. Google says the research, for now, exclusively focuses on “drawstrings in garments and as wired connections for data and power across consumer devices,” since they’re commonly used.
Instead of using three or more material strands to form a braid, Google’s project involves interweaving a series of electrically conductive textile yarns. When the user performs an action like pinching a wire, these yarns transmit signals that tell the connected device to perform the assigned task. In addition, this design is interlaced with fiber optic strands that can display color and offer visual feedback whenever someone interacts with the cord.
“Textiles have the potential to help technology blend into our everyday environments and objects by improving aesthetics, comfort, and ergonomics. Consumer devices have started to leverage these opportunities through fabric-covered smart speakers and braided headphone cords, while advances in materials and flexible electronics have enabled the incorporation of sensing and display into soft form factors, such as jackets, dresses, and blankets,” wrote Alex Olwal, Research Scientist, Google Research, in a blog post.
Since the smart cord houses eight sensory threads, they’re able to detect a wide number of gesture combinations with 94% accuracy. However, it’s worth noting the experiment’s results, at the moment, are based on data collected from 12 new participants and it’s not yet a user-independent system. Through these datasets, Google is also training a predictive machine learning algorithm, which is what lets the braid distinguish between the several gestures.
Fundamentally, the cord supports a total of six gestures: twisting, flicking, sliding, pinching, grabbing, and patting. On top of that, the threads are programmed to recognize finger direction and speed. Therefore, theoretically, the set of gestures that is possible is much higher and lets the user precisely input their command, Google adds.
So far, Google has built a number of prototypes with its E-Textiles module. In a preview clip, the company demos how pinching a speaker’s cord can pause or play the playback, and swiping it can switch to the next track. It also showcased how the “Scroll” gesture can enable a braided wire to double as a multi-touch trackpad.
You won’t find these smart cords in consumer gadgets anytime soon, nor has Google commented on whether there’s a timeline for their release. As the world transitions away from wires, it’s also unclear whether this technology can make any noticeable difference in our virtual interactions.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.