You must have heard that even walls have ears. And you may soon hear of wall paint with brains as the Internet of Things becomes more ubiquitous. Researchers in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University have developed a paint that can make a wall smart.
The specially treated wall, termed Wall++, will work as a floor-to-ceiling track-pad, according to Yang Zhang, a researcher. Wall++ can track users’ touch and gestures and read their body posture. The conductive paint, costing a mere $20 per square meter, has electrodes in a diamond grid that act as sensors. Wall++ links up using Wi-fi, Bluetooth, or infrared to a network allowing users to control smart home functions.
