Nokia patents wearable phone controls

Fabric with sensors to read your gestures as commands

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9 July 2009 15:39 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

We know that Nokia is looking into more areas than just buttons and touchscreens for phone controls, and a recently revealed patent has shed light on an option the Finnish phone manufacturer is considering.

The patent looks at wearable electronics as a way of controlling handsets and appears to be one possible physical implementation of gesture control, something Nokia has admitted to be looking into previously.

The patent sees embedded sensors in fabric that react to the movement of human skin. As the skin stretches, the fabric would work out what kind of gesture your hand was making and wirelessly send the command to the phone.

As well as phones, this kind of input could also be adapted for game consoles, media players and laptops and alternatively the wearable electronics transmitting the commands might take the form of glasses or jewellery.

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