For those of us with the ability to see and hear without difficulty, the Lorm hand-touch alphabet may be an unfamiliar method of communication. But for many, it is essential. Now, thanks to a new device, Lorm users will be able to communicate via text messages.

Developed by the Berlin-based Design Research Lab, the Mobile Lorm Glove allows the wearer to send and receive text messages via tactile feedback. The glove uses textile pressure sensors located at various points on the palm of the glove that correspond to the Lorm alphabet to construct words and sentences. In addition to letting the hearing and vision impaired communicate more freely via mobile text messages and email, the developers also claim the device will make reading e-books easier.

A research group at Osaka University is developing a robot hand for tele-handshaking. It communicates a person's grip force, body temperature, and touch. "In ordinary video-conferencing systems, it's difficult even to see life-sized pictures of other people. But by attaching this robot hand, you can shake hands with people at a distance. Shaking hands like this gives a greater sense of other people's presence than you get with regular video-conferencing systems." Results from preliminary trials showed that to reproduce a real person's hand, the three most important aspects were texture, temperature and a sufficient grip force. Here, silicone rubber and sponge are used to simulate the elasticity of human skin and the underlying muscle structure, with an appropriate temperature achieved through the use of a film heater...

Of all the things we saw at CES, Tobii's eye-tracking Gaze interface was one of the most memorable, even if the execution was a bit flawed. Now the company's back with a next-gen sensor that fits on a single board and is 75 percent smaller than the iteration we saw at CES -- a milestone that will presumably allow it to accommodate a wider range of devices. Tobii also says the IS-2S eye tracker consumes 40 percent less power than its predecessor and will be cheaper to implement, though the company doesn't specify how much it'll cost. It's also unclear which Windows PC and tablet makers will take a chance on the technology, though that won't necessarily stop us from getting an early demo at CeBIT this week.