Can electrical wires really be an interactive interface? With this kind of wire, you can turn lights on and off, adjust brightness, and change color without a switch; with this kind of wire, you can adjust headphone volume without a switch; with this kind of wire, you can even use it to control computer commands, and forcibly unplugging USB drives will no longer be a hassle.
This amazing wire originated from some interesting explorations by the CordUI project at MIT. The researchers on this project came from the Fluid Interfaces team at the Tangible Media Group.
The principle behind this type of wire is that we can think of it as a water pipe carrying electricity and data. Just as you can bend or knot a water pipe to change the flow of water, you can do the same with a wire.
One of the ideas is to turn a light on and off by bending a wire. Using a microcontroller and a wire that monitors the current, the wire becomes a switch. Bending the wire turns the light on, and repeating this action turns the light off.
Meanwhile, by restricting or expanding data flow on a power cord equipped with a bend sensor, we can control the color and brightness of the lights. Tying a knot in the wire will dim the light as you tighten the knot and brighten it as you loosen it; even the color of the light will change depending on the position of the knot. Or you could simply tie three knots, representing red, green, or blue for the RGB-LED lights respectively.
Another innovative feature is that music playback on a phone can be controlled by squeezing the headphone cable (which incorporates a capacitive sensor). This is similar to operating the volume and playback controls on the headphones, but with the advantage of being much more convenient.
Finally, if you frequently force-unplug USB cables, you can try this: add a pull sensor to the USB cable so that pulling the cable is equivalent to clicking "eject"; or, place a book on the computer charging cable and the computer will enter sleep mode.
This is a way of giving physical presence to invisible data. It seems that using these wires neither saves time nor provides much convenience. CordUI researchers say the project is meant to stimulate thought, not create something commercial. At least, from our perspective, it's certainly very interesting.
