A German research institute has developed a touch-screen interface that users operate with their feet.
The snappily-named Multitoe, developed at the Hasso Plattner Institute, uses the same frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) technology as many smaller touch screens.
Light beams are shone into a sandwich of acrylic, silcone and glass, and move around as the pressure from a foot affects them. A camera below captures the image of whatever has pressed down on the floor.
“We based our design on frustrated total internal reflection because its ability to sense pressure allows the device to see users’ soles when applied to a floor,” say the developers. <
