back to article Blinking to replace remote controls, claims Japanese boffin

A Japanese researcher is planning to revolutionise the humble remote control in the blink of an eye, literally. Kome Kami Switch All this to skip tracks on your iPod Image courtesy AFP Kazuhiro Taniguchi, a researcher at the Osaka University Graduate School of Engineering Science, has invented a blink-operated switch …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    "Remote Controls" = "Birth Controls"

    I just looked at the article, and thought "you can blink to stop getting pregnant?

    ...

    I'll get my coat.

  2. Tim

    look at how tiny it is.

    Nobody would be able to detect how you get your IPod to magically work!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmm

    Clever, but pointless

  4. david

    I'm stuffed...

    ...I can't operate my left eye independently. Means I have to shuffle right around the 400 hours on my iPod to get to the previous track...

  5. John Robson Silver badge

    Handsfree phones

    Which require you to shut your eyes....

    Maybe not so good for road safety

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Wow, that's so practical

    I can't imagine why no researcher has done this before because winking at your iPod is soooo much quicker and easier than pressing the buttons with your finger.

    /The boffin as I want apply for a grant to reesearch and develop a buttock-clench operated controller.

  7. dervheid
    Happy

    OK, he looks a total TIT, but...

    if they CAN develop a functional, practical, and slightly (okay, extremely) less embarrassing version, then I can see this having a niche market in the disability sector.

    It's still a brilliantly funny picture though!

  8. Andrew Abdul-Malek

    all re-group at red lobster

    interestingly, i remember hearing of artificial limbs in existence, which are controlled by the brain - why go back?

    its an interesting concept, but in 10-20 years, we wont need computers, dvds, phones, blink operated controllers, all we will need is our brains.

    can you imagine if we had perfectly clear and crisp holographic images in our eyes that could be controlled by our brains? we could surf the web "which by then should be Gb strength lines worldwide" by thinking.

    we could talk by thinking

    we could take pictures by thinking, and send it to someone by thinking

    it will be like being john malkovich, by permission only of course!

    this is what we originally had, but we didn't need technology, just an understanding of energy.

    its like we have to go forwards to go backwards

    interesting nonetheless.

    Andy

  9. Pete Silver badge

    Takes fighting for the remote control to new heights

    There you are sitting watching "The News". Suddenly that kid who's been whinging all afternoon that they want to watch something else makes a dive for your neck and rips your head off. OK, that makes watching TV more difficult - being headless 'n' all, but it seems a little extreme, just for the sake of a programme.

    Though on the plus side I suppose that, given the size of this thing, there's no chance it could slip down a crack in the sofa.

  10. Jon Double Nice
    Coat

    On the subject of Being John Malkovitch

    They should remake this, only with Keith Chegwin instead. The bit where he goes inside his own head would be priceless:

    'Chegwin Chegwin Chegwin'

    'Chegwin?'

    'Chegwin'

    'Chegwin...'

    'Chegwin Chegwin'

    'Chegwin'

    'CHEGWIN!!!"

    Mines the original 'Cheggers Plays Pops' cagoul.

  11. Eric

    runners maybe

    I can see it being integrated into headphones so runners can control their IPOD without hands. Still may looks funny though. What if you have an eye twitch?

  12. Phil Hare
    Happy

    Does that photo remind anyone else...

    ...of Rory Bremnar doing his David Blunkett impression?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    <title></title>

    why did he have to make it for the diepod ?!

    some people have better players !!

  14. Neil
    Coat

    Beware the Weeping Angel...

    Whatever you do - DON'T BLINK!

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    So...

    When it breaks, it's actually NOT on the blink?

  16. Mart
    Paris Hilton

    Intentionally inducing an autonomic intentional autonomous blink

    "Taniguchi told French news agency AFP that his switch can differentiate between deliberate and autonomic blinks."

    If your thinknig about blinking you will blink intentionally by accident if that makes sense, aka a thought about not blinking causing you to blink will be slower than a regular autonomous blink thus the machine will skip track. It's like a 3 1/2min staring contest to hear your favorite song!

    Paris - cos we all love to stare at her ;)

  17. Sam

    All together now..

    "Kome Kami Kome Kami Kome Kameleon..."

    OK, I'll fuck off now.

  18. Graham Marsden

    Caption competition...

    "Please don't let anyone recognise me...!"

    Of course with the "close your eyes for a second to switch it on", how long before some pillock walks into a lamppost or crashes a car...?

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    blinking hell

    Does the auther not know the difference between blinking and winking?

    '...then blinks their right eye to move forwards by one track. Blinking their left eye...'

    You cant blink with one eye!

    Therefore that should read:

    '...then wlinks their right eye to move forwards by one track. Wlinking their left eye...'.

  20. Lee T.
    Boffin

    DNA claims prior art - h2g2

    A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wavebands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had beenoperated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive - you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same programme.

  21. This post has been deleted by its author

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @AC, RE: blinking hell

    What the hells a "wlink"?

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Takes fighting for the remote control to new heights

    >there's no chance it could slip down a crack in the sofa.

    That all depends on how drunk you were the night before and the size of the bird you pulled.

  24. P. Lee
    Paris Hilton

    Presumably for those who need a remote control

    Who needs a remote for an ipod they are holding?

    I suspect its a proof of concept for those people who, perhaps don't have fingers they can use and who might use a remote for other things too. Maybe a tv remote or a phone pickup system for paraplegics.

    Paris, she has something in her eye and the blinking is wreaking havoc...

  25. This post has been deleted by its author

  26. James Cleveland

    No matter how advanced this gets

    I will never want to blink to change tracks. That would just be creepy and irritating.

    Neural stuff, however...

  27. kain preacher

    Is just me

    or does he look like they are using some sci fi method of tourching and frying his brain ??

  28. Darryl
    Unhappy

    Imagine the pain

    Scenario 1:

    You're walking down the street listening to your iPod. Just as a stranger walks by, you change tracks. Stranger is offended by your winking and slaps you across the face. Your involuntary flinch during the slap is misinterpreted by the controller to mean "Play 'Girl U Know It's True' by Milli Vanilli at full volume."

    Scenario 2:

    You're walking down the street with your significant other... You decide you want to skip forward to the next track on your iPod just as a stranger walks by. Said stranger sees you winking at him/her, and winks back. Significant other sees this exchange and slaps you across the back of your head. Your involuntary flinch during the slap is misinterpreted by the controller to mean "Play 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne at full volume."

  29. Jamie
    Stop

    blinking mess

    well thats it then. We are gonna have a society of blinking wrecks. Everyone will be bling winking whatever all bloody day. Give it a few weeks we will have a case of repetitative blink injuries. Im happy with my hands thanks!

  30. TeeCee Gold badge
    Coat

    Next week's headline.

    "Boffin's Blindingly Brilliant Blinking Brainwave Buggered By Botox"

    I'll bet by boat.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ @AC, RE: blinking hell

    A typo - end of a long day! WINK

  32. sam

    Public Spending??

    I foresee lots more admissions to mental institutions as ordinary people are caught walking down the street apparently talking to themselves on their bluetooth headsets and uncontrolably twitching their facial muscles

  33. Nick

    This has already been given the kiss of death...

    Because I saw a similar thing demonstrated on Tomorrow's World! It was a product for disabled people to use instead of a computer mouse and worked on following the direction of gaze to point, and wink to click. They had someone demonstrating it by playing solitaire. It must have been ages ago as they were using windows 3.11.

  34. Simon B
    Joke

    some bstard has nicked my ipod!

    Close my eyes to activate my ipod ... 1 second later I open my eyes ... some bastard's nicked my ipod! ;)

  35. Geoffrey Summerhayes
    Coat

    Needs contols for the elbow

    Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

    (The one with the big foot on the back)

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