Design Summary_Analysis Draft 3

In the article, "Force-Sensing Gloves could Control an iPhone By Detecting Gestures and How Objects Are Gripped," Owen (2019) has stated that Apple aims to enable people to interact with devices using any form of clothing made using conductive strands in the fabric, such as gloves, which provide force-sensing capabilities. The article describes how a glove could be enabled to check how much force and with how many fingers a user presses a surface, delivering different commands. The clothing would incorporate conductive strands, interwoven with normal threads in the fabric, which allows the sending of electrical signals from one section to another. The conductive strands are connected to force sensing circuitry whose signals are sent to a wireless element to send commands or other information to the main device. The article also states that Apple has also thought of adding these fabrics with flexible displays to create smart clothing.

Although the article does a decent job at describing the concept and features of the Apple patent, it fails to discuss the advantages in detail and the disadvantages a user will face when using the device, such as real-time wireless control and inconvenience of usage.

One such disadvantage is real-time wireless control. Zhao et al. (2018) state that “real-time wireless control is supported by both control systems and wireless systems, which tightly interact with each other via some critical variables.” These variables include time delay and packet loss. The article describes that a normal real-time wireless system usually consists of “sensor-controller link delays, controller-actuator link delays, and controller’s processing delays”. These delays normally comprise delays in broadcasting, getting data to the distribution network, and delivery delays, which are linked to many elements. An extremely long time delay may weaken the system functions or potentially cause a system breakdown. The article also mentions how packet loss, which is caused by a poor channel capability resulting in incorrect translation of information, may result in resending or decreased data transfer. In such devices, the packet loss would result in higher costs as the system is required to make additional processes.

Another disadvantage would be the inconvenience of usage. Weedmark (n.d) states that using a wireless keyboard or device has its disadvantages in setup and batteries compared to their wired counterparts. The article describes that where a wired keyboard can be used simply by plugging it to the computer, a wireless keyboard often requires additional configuration such as pairing or the need to download and install external software. Another disadvantage stated is that wireless keyboard or devices use batteries which require periodic charging or replacement, which can be a source of annoyance especially while in the middle of an urgent task.

However, such a device is advantageous to many different applications. Gesture recognition is a communication technique that performs a large role due to its frequent use of “gestures and signs” for human interaction. A plethora of usages is currently engaged in “gesture recognition systems, such as sign language recognition, substitutional computer interfaces, socially assistive robotics, immersive, gaming, virtual objects, remote control, medicine-health care, etc” (Ahmed et al., 2018).

Although such a device has many advantages and brings about the potential for many new applications such as AR and VR, it is not feasible to be implemented for mainstream usage as real-time wireless control and inconvenience of usage are main disadvantages that would negatively impact a user’s experience.

Ahmed, M. A., Zaidan, B. B., Zaidan, A. A., Salih, M. M., & Lakulu, M. M. B. (2018). A review on systems-based sensory gloves for sign language recognition state of the art between 2007 and 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/s18072208

Weedmark, D. (2019). Disadvantages of using a wireless keyboard. Retrieved February 7, 2020, from https://itstillworks.com/disadvantages-using-wireless-keyboard-1005.html

Zhao, G., Imran, M. A., Pang, Z., Chen, Z., & Li, L. (2018). Toward real-time control in future wireless networks: communication-control co-design. IEEE Communications Magazine, 57(2), 138–144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/MCOM.2018.1800163