By Katy Tomasulo | Construction Drive
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research are looking to transform walls from inactive room dividers into “active parts of our living and work environments.”
The research team used conductive, water-based paint and electrodes to create a “smart surface” called Wall++. The process uses traditional tools and is estimated to cost $20 per square meter. In capacitive sensing mode, the wall can be used as a touchpad to replace traditional buttons and switches. In electromagnetic sensing mode, the wall’s electrodes use electromagnetic transmissions to find devices.
The team’s research earned Best Paper at the 2018 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Montreal.
