Stane: Synthesized surfaces for tactile input

In this video from CHI2008, the authors outline an idea where you have a rough surface on a lump of plastic. Embedded in the lump is a microphone, much like in a mobile phone. When you scratch different parts of the surface, the sound is recognized by the phone and can be interpreted in various ways. It's an amazingly low-cost input mode.

/Staffan Lincoln - 4/9/2008