Every technology fan knows the problem: to have all your app always with you means to walk around carrying many devices, sometimes even big, e.g. tablets. And if we tell you that in few time you will be able to say goodbye to bags, backpacks and cases?

That’s what will happen soon: the times of busy hands could be at their end since a group of japanese researchers are working on a system that will transform the human arm into a tablet, complete of comfortable keyboard and maybe an app interface. The company is the NEC Corporation and recently announced the creation of the system “ARmKeyPad” that, using augmented reality, projects a keyboard on the arm of the user, leaving his hands free for other uses.

The ARmKeyPad is made of two elements: a pair of eyeglasses and a smart watch; the glasses display the keys on the arm and detect the finger movements, while the watch changes the keyboard visualization tracking the wearer’s motion.

The device is made thinking mostly of the work ambient; in fact, among the strong points that the company highlighted, there are the fact of offering more advantage over other wearable devices that are operated via voice recognition, since they can’t be used in loud environments (as factories and workshops), and also that the workers don’t have to carry around any remote.

Shin Norieda, one of the researchers at NEC, said: “I wanted to make a keyboard of the body so I created this device for people who work in maintenance or factory jobs; they can just go hands-free.”

For the moment NEC didn’t give any sure release date or price of the double device, but revealed that its team is working on it to be released during 2016.

Ogni appassionato di tecnologia conosce bene il problema: avere le proprie app sempre a portata di mano significa portare a passeggio device a volte anche piuttosto grandi, un esempio su tutti i tablet. E se vi dicessimo che tra qualche tempo borse, borsine e case saranno preistoria?

Avete capito bene, i tempi delle mani sempre occupate da dispositivi mobile potrebbero essere giunti al termine, perché un gruppo di ricercatori giapponesi sta lavorando a un sistema che trasformerà direttamente il vostro braccio in un tablet, con tanto di comoda tastiera e interfaccia per le app. La compagnia si chiama NEC Corporation e recentemente ha annunciato di aver creato il sistema “ARmKeyPad” il quale, avvalendosi della realtà aumentata, proietta una tastiera sull’avambraccio dell’utente, lasciandogli così le mani libere per altri utilizzi.

L’ARmKeyPad è composto da due elementi: un paio di occhiali e uno smart watch; gli occhiali servono per vedere i tasti e rilevare le dita sulla tastiera, mentre lo smart watch può cambiare la visualizzazione della tastiera in base al movimento della persona che lo indossa.

Il device ha una forte predisposizione per gli ambienti di lavoro più che per gli utilizzi ludici; infatti tra i punti di forza che la compagnia ha sottolineato ci sono quello di essere prettamente superiore ai dispositivi con controllo vocale poiché questi ultimi non possono essere utilizzati in luoghi rumorosi (come fabbriche e officine per esempio) e il fatto che il lavoratore non debba portare con sé alcun telecomando.

Shin Norieda, uno dei ricercatori della NEC, a tal proposito ha affermato: “Ho voluto fare del corpo una tastiera, così ho creato questo dispositivo per persone che lavorano in fabbriche o nella manutenzione; così possono avere le mani libere.”

Al momento NEC non ha fornito data di rilascio certa, né eventuale costo del doppio dispositivo, rivelando però che il suo team ci sta lavorando attivamente per commercializzarlo durante il 2016.

We are sure that Ferrari doesn’t have problems selling their super-luxury cars, but, looking also at the news from the automotive market (e.g. MINI goggles), to enhance their customers experience and make it just magical is the big strike point of the moment. This is probably what they thought when they joined forces with developer Zspace to create together an Augmented Reality app to use in their showroom. The company commissioned an app that uses Metaio’s Hybrid 3D tracking technology to augment the cars models and deliver the ultimate showroom experience through technology.

Simply using a tablet in front of the car inside the showroom, it’s possible to choose some features of the vehicle we want to buy: as first thing, the Metaio tracking technology recognizes the car as the client stands in front of it; then it’s possible to try different colors and accessories. Of course, this allows frontline sales people from Ferrari to provide for more in depth information about the care they are selling, and there’s no more vivid factor than to see it in front of our eyes.

There’s more: “Most high end supercar showrooms such as Lamborghini, McLaren, Ferrari et al, can come across a bit intimidating experience for a potential customer, this technology not only connects the Ferrari brand in an innovative way, but it is a friendly, engaging way to lead the customer from the showroom floor to the showroom’s configurator where they can ‘spec’ up and customize further their dream Ferrari,” said Tim Jardine, executive produce at Zspace.

The app currently features five vehicles, the 458 Speciale and Spider, the FF, the F12 Berlinetta and the California T., but it’s designed in a manner that makes easy to add other vehicles in the future and to adapt to all the news of the company. At the moment it is available only in Australasia, but will be introduced to the American market soon.

See more in the official video above: