(PhysOrg.com) -- Unlike most wrinkles on our bodies, which appear due to bending and stretching of the skin, fingerprints aren't the result of repeated motion. Each of us is born with a unique set of them, although scientists ...
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in Japan are developing a new touch screen system, the HIRO III, that incorporates a robot hand that could offer a new way of simulating the touching of virtual objects and receiving feedback ...
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham, Sorbonne Universités and Unilever Research & Development Port Sunlight, has found that human fingertips behave differently when touching something depending ...
Smartphone and tablet computer owners have become adept at using finger taps, flicks and drags to control their touchscreens. But Carnegie Mellon University researchers have found that this interaction can be enhanced by ...
Hi Tech & Innovation
Oct 19, 2011
3
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Guitar virtuosos have to master all kinds of playing techniques. But how can the intricate process of playing the instrument be captured digitally? A special thin film on the tailpiece has the answer. Functioning as a sensor, ...
Engineering
Jul 11, 2011
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Technology to acquire and use biometric data such as fingerprints has been around for several decades and has made its way from forensic investigation to laptop computers – and now, with this week's introduction of iPhone ...
Other
Sep 13, 2013
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A little vibration can be a good thing for people who need a sensitive touch.
Engineering
Aug 4, 2011
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As a child, I watched "The Jetsons" on TV every Saturday morning. I wasn't as enamored of the flying cars as I was the push-button home automation.
Consumer & Gadgets
Jun 6, 2013
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Two arms, three cameras, finger-tip sensitivity and a variety of facial expressions – these are the distinguishing features of the pi4-workerbot. Similar in size to a human being, it can be employed at any modern workstation ...
Robotics
Dec 1, 2010
0
0
Poland's cooperative BPS SA bank claimed Tuesday to be the first in Europe to install a biometric cash point allowing its clients to use their fingertips rather than a bank card to withdraw money.
Hi Tech & Innovation
May 11, 2010
0
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A finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates. Normally humans have five digits, termed phalanges, on each hand (exceptions are polydactyly, oligodactyly and digit loss). The first digit is the thumb, followed by index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger or pinky. Some other languages use the same generic term for all five digits of a hand.
English dictionaries describe finger as meaning either one of the five digits including the thumb, or one of the four excluding the thumb (in which case they are numbered from 1 to 4 starting with the index finger closest to the thumb). Linguistically, it appears that the original sense was to include the thumb as a finger: the word is derived from *penkwe-ros[citation needed] (also rendered as *penqrós[citation needed]) which was, in the inferred Proto-Indo-European language, a suffixed form of *penkwe (or *penqe), "five", which has[citation needed] given rise to many Indo-European-family words (tens of them defined in English dictionaries) that involve or flow from concepts of fiveness.
Chimpanzees have lower limbs that are specialized for manipulation, and (arguably) have fingers on their lower limbs as well. The term 'finger' is not applied to the digits of most other animals, such as canines, felines, or ungulates, none of which can engage in fine manipulation with their forelimbs as a primate can.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
