Chicagoans who must brave the cold to wait for a bus or train now have a home-grown solution to tapping their smartphones, iPads and other electronic devices without taking off their gloves.Brian Shy, a 29-year-old Ukrainian Village resident, has invented “digits” — mini conductive pins that stick on the fingertips of gloves and “communicate” with electronic devices.Each “digit” — a metal pin — pierces through a glove’s fingertip with a small enough hole so as not to damage the glove. The pins’ conductive silicone carries a charge to the electronic device’s screen, which activates the device’s “touch” function.
Shy, who is pursuing a dual medical and doctorate degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago, got the idea when he realized he couldn’t get his smartphone to respond when he tried to use it outside while he wore gloves.He put conductive thread into his gloves as a test, and it worked.“I wanted to think of a way people wouldn’t have to use a needle and thread like I did to sew the thread into the glove,” Shy said.He didn’t do anything about his discovery until he saw an article in an airline magazine about crowdsourcing — the online phenomenon in which startups get ideas and funding by networking via web-based social media.
The article mentioned, where people can submit their inventive ideas. People who log onto the site may monitor an idea’s progress and vote on certain aspects of the idea.Baby Video Monitors For Baby and Parents. Voters have a chance to receive a percentage of the profits of a creation if it successfully goes to market. Quirky’s design and sales teams also recommend improvements on ideas.How to achieve Shy’s goal of eliminating the sewing?Participants on Quirky suggested everything from conductive sponges that wrapped around a person’s fingers to paint that people could dip their gloves into.
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