Given the speed of technology we are currently enjoying, it’s actually no surprise that a group has filed for patent for an integral part of a future smart home– the floor.
IBM has been recently granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a multitouch floor that would be able to detect various shapes and weights and differentiate them as adults, children, or pets. If you’re not authorize, so to speak, to step on the floor, be ready for the police.
Aside from security purposes, the multitouch floor has also other advantages– it can help parents monitor their tots; it can alert vacationing elders when there are more than six people in the house (Partying teenagers, perhaps?); and it can detect if someone is lying on the floor, indicating illness; among other potential uses.
IBM, however, seems unsure when, where, and how to use the idea. According to IBM spokesman Christopher Andrews, “The newly-patented invention is not part of a product or solution and we can’t speculate about if or how it will be implemented.”
via Innovation News Daily
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