WATCH:Let your fingers do the talking: Glove allows you to write text messages by touching letters on your hand

Catching up with science fiction: Jiake Liu shows off the keyboard glove, left, the concept of which is similar to the gloves used by Tom Cruise's character in Minority Report as he trawls through a computer databas

When mobile phone handsfree kits first emerged, many were surprised to see people walking around or riding public transport apparently talking to themselves. 

Well, it could be time to once again reassess the standards according to which we judge normal behaviour. A new glove lets you write messages on your phone by simply wagging your fingers.
It means social networking addicts can now send tweets, texts and Facebook messages without having to touch a screen or keyboard.



The new technology is similar to that imagined in the 2002 science fiction film Minority Report, in which John Anderton - played by Tom Cruise - uses a pair of gloves to interact with a computer database.

With the keyboard glove, instead of tapping keys, the user simply uses their thumb to touch points on their fingers or palm, which are assigned a letter of the alphabet. 

Other areas include keyboard functions, such as 'space' and 'enter'.

THE EYEPHONE: DANISH FIRM CAN MAKE GADGETS WORK WITH A LOOK

A Danish company hopes to clinch deals with major mobile phone and tablet makers after developing software that enables users to control their devices by moving their eyes.

'You can use it for basic control, such as turning to the next page in an e-book, and playing games with your eyes,' chief executive and co-founder of The Eye Tribe, Sune Alstrup Johansen, said.

The software uses infrared light reflected from the pupil of the eye, which is recorded by the device's camera, enabling users to scroll or click on their screens with their eyes.

When you are reading an e-book and get to the bottom of the page, the software will know to turn to the next page, or if you look away from the screen it will dim it.

The Eye Tribe is made up of four PhD students who founded the company a year ago. They received $800,000 (615,000 euros) in funding in August to develop the technology.

The company plans to release the technology at no cost to other software developers early next year.

Thin wires carry the 'keystrokes' to a matchbox-sized control unit on the back of the glove, which transmits the commands via Bluetooth.
The Gauntlet Keyboard works with computers, mobile phones, games consoles, music synthesisers and even military equipment.
It was designed by four computer engineers at the The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Alabama.
Inventor Jiake Liu said the inspiration came from his interest in science fiction movies and experience with touch-screen technologies.
'Think of the Gauntlet as a touch screen that works by tapping your fingers to your thumb on a gloved hand,' he said.
'It could be used as a keyboard for the consumer market or the medical field for people limited to one hand due to a disability.'
Once Mr Liu and his partners came up with the idea, they researched the most frequently used characters on a keyboard.
Common keystrokes got the easiest finger-thumb alignments like the fingertips. Less common ones required more hand contortions to make the contacts.
You can even delete words while wearing the glove by performing a swiping gesture with your hand.
The keyboard characters are sewn into the finger and palm positions to make it easier to learn.
These letters can be removed once the positions have been memorised, making it look more like a traditional, plain black glove.

The Gauntlet in action: Instead of tapping keys, the user simply uses their thumb to touch points on their fingers or palm, which are assigned a letter of the alphabet. Other areas include keyboard functions, such as 'space' and 'enter'
Stephen Doud, who is also working on the project, said: 'We tried to figure the easiest places to touch your finger with your thumb.
'We then put the most commonly used letters there to make the glove as efficient and easy to use as possible.'
The developers are now seeking a patent and hope to see the glove on shop shelves soon.