On their COVID-19 information page, both the CDC and the WHO warn people against touching their faces with dirty hands, since the virus can survive on surfaces. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of touchless technologies, and the Singapore studio Stuck Design envisions a world in which passengers won’t even have to push the elevator buttons with their fingers to get to where they need to go. The studio’s Kinetic Touchless technology can mimic finger movement and recreate the tactile response of pressing a button.
It works using movement as an input method, so it does not need direct contact and can mimic movement from a distance. The studio says the type of touchless interaction that its technology offers can be applied to multiple gestures as well. This means that the buttons using the technology can sink inward or move outward if the user makes a push or pull. A row of buttons can also follow the user’s finger if he makes a sliding motion.