Qeexo, an offshoot of Carnegie Mellon’s Human Computer Interaction lab, has raised $2.3 million led by Sierra Ventures. The technology allows smartphones to tell the difference between the tip of a finger and a knuckle when tapping or swiping, a feature that you probably didn’t know you wanted but now, that you think about it, sounds pretty cool. They are also announcing the availability of their OEM product, FingerSense.
The founders, Sang Won Lee, Chris Harrison, and Julia Schwarz created the technology as grad students and announced the project in 2011 but they’ve just released their first commercial product, FingerSense, an OEM solution that allows any handset maker to add Qeexo’s technology to their devices. “Imagine a multi-button mouse on a touchscreen. Today, devices only support one dimension—a tap with the finger or stylus. FingerSense allows devices to support multiple dimensions to control multiple features,” said Harrison.
“By giving OEMs the ability to identify what’s touched the screen, we can give OEMs a way to improve functionality while making previously cumbersome tasks easier,” said Lee. “For example, a simple touch or series of touches with your knuckle can allow you to drag and highlight, copy text, trigger a menu, open the browser, circle and cut a section of the screen, or capture the full screen and share.”
No word yet on when, where or whether the technology will appear.