ON-ARM SCREEN

WE HAVE always been awed by the idea of a screen that is anywhere but on a device. Technologists at Carnegie Mellon University have obliged us by coming out with a prototype smartwatch that projects a screen on the wearer’s arm.

The chunky watch, named LumiWatch, displays a 6.2-inch display on the wearer’s forearm. This is a fully functional screen that responds to scroll, swipe and touch. The idea is to have a standalone device, quite apart from a smartphone, which will have much more screen space than an ordinary smartwatch.

The LumiWatch has a decent portfolio of specs and can work quite smoothly. But there is a problem yet to be solved: the display is not crystal clear because it is on the skin and on a surface that is rounded. It is bright enough to be visible outside but has limited colours.