U Can’t Touch This

–Hammer

How we live, work, play, pray, travel, socialize, manage, think, and govern are all changing. Many of these changes will persist for years or decades after this COVID-19 crisis passes. Many of these changes will be innovative and disruptive, inspiring and uplifting—others, neutral, discomforting or depressing. Urgent coronavirus-pandemic — interim advisory update

Many people are rethinking a host of behaviors. Ranging from the way they pay for goods, open doors and interact with work devices and surfaces.

Will your employees be eager or anxious to return to the office?

When they do will they be wearing gloves?

Touch-less Technology describes contactless biometric, gesture (body, finger and hand) and voice recognition sensing software and hardware. That allow user interaction with computers, devices and machines.

We use touch-less faucets and hand dryers but our workplace tools are now antiquated.  Where it is possible that employees can contract COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own faces. This is why some governments have temporarily halted the use of contact biometrics.

Health experts are now suggesting organizations invest in touch-less technologies and tools that require minimal physical contact with surfaces and objects. As governments globally revise international containment responses and infection control measures. Many organizations are exploring using more hygienic technologies and tools for office and work from home (WFH) environments.

This blog post informs C-Suite executives and business leaders on the available and evolving touch-less technology climate. Currently, Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies offer touch-less interactions between equipped devices for many functions, such as, keyless entry, remote control and mobile payments.  These technologies and tools are a smaller leap forward than larger gesture migrations.

Expect to see fewer touch screens and more voice-activated and touch-less gesture control in products by first quarter of 2021. That can operate amid a pandemic to protect employees while also maintaining productivity that include:

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, LG and Microsoft appear to be aggressively pursuing touch-less controls and interfaces, judging by their acquisition, partnership and patent activity. Some other examples include:

• Gesturetek offers touch-less interfaces for multiple industries.
• Pointgrab  is licensing their software for device makers and developers to build touch-less applications for multiple industries.
• Google’s Soli is developing radar based gesture recognition technology for different types of devices and industries.
• Eyesight Tech  offers gesture recognition technology that allow users to control devices by using software, SDK and a webcam.
•  Elliptic Labs  offers gesture (ultrasound) recognition technology that allow users to control devices by using microphones and speakers. Eliminating cameras and related privacy concerns.
• Sony offers 3D recognition technology that allow users to control devices by using hardware, middleware and software.
• Ultra Leap offers gesture recognition technology that allow users to control desktops and laptops by using peripheral infrared cameras and devices.

Key considerations for both office and WFM environments.

• Create business cases and plans for enhancement or transformation for using a touch-less digital ecosystem.
• Know the market. This market is segmented on the basis of product, type, services and technology, such as, Cognitec Systems (biometric recognition for access, image analysis and validation), Nuance (speech to text clinical documentation) or Microsoft Kinect for PC gaming. 
• Request demos.There is a lot of specialization required for office and WFH and you should have people who understand your business — both from a differentiation perspective and from product direction.
• Make sure you clearly understand your software/hardware add-on options. Many vendors tout “integration” between their applications and with third parties. Inquire about cross-product integration, to enable employees to work seamlessly across many of their applications.
• Consider third party add-on applications that will support your hygienic and productivity needs, such as, Remote Mouse where Bluetooth or NFC allows personal devices to become the controller.

What Do You Think?

Author Disclosure

I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I have no vested interest in any of the products, firms or institutions mentioned in this post. Nor does the Analyst Syndicate. This is not a sponsored post.