Skip to main content

Qeexo wants you to use your knuckles, not just your fingertips, to control your phone

Mobile World Congress 2016 Demo Video
Why just use your fingers to control your phone when you can use … your knuckles? That’s the question, or one of many, that the folks at Qeexo are asking. This Mountain View-based startup has been in the business of finding new ways for us to interact with our touchscreen devices since 2012, and its FingerSense technology lets users use their knuckles as a totally separate tool from their fingertips. Already used by 20 million Huawei phones in China, FingerSense is finally coming to the U.S. with the Honor 8.

While we’ve all become accustomed to touching a button or a screen to make something happen, Qeexo believes that there’s much more to come in this realm. FingerSense, for example, lets people use their knuckles to draw a letter — if you trace an “e,” you could open your email, or if you draw an “m,” you can open a music app. Alternatively, a double knuckle tap could take a screenshot. In essence, it expands the horizons of what you can actually do with nothing more than your digits.

“At Qeexo, we believe there is an incredible opportunity to innovate the core touch experience for mobile devices,” said Sang Won Lee, CEO of Qeexo. “Through FingerSense, we’ve been able to introduce exciting new features loved by our users, and we will continue to develop unique ways to provide a much richer touch experience.”

But that’s not all Qeexo is working on. The company is also working on what it calls TouchTools, an even more sophisticated collection of gestures that turns your phone or tablet screen into a virtual measuring tape, a whiteboard, and more. By using multitouch data and machine learning, Lee says, TouchTools will be able to detect the positioning of a user’s hands, and respond accordingly.

While this particular technology is still in its nascent stages, Lee remains hopeful that things could take off in the near future, especially as consumers expect more and more from their mobile devices.

“The space is getting incredibly competitive,” Lee said. “Consumers are waiting longer to replace their phones because they’re hesitant to buy a new device that is no different from their previous device.” But with the introduction of TouchTools, there just might be a demonstrably different device sooner rather than later.

Editors' Recommendations

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
I keep forgetting about the Apple Watch Series 9’s coolest feature
Apps on the Apple Watch Series 9's screen.

I’m just going to come out and say it: I love the Apple Watch Series 9. A couple of weeks ago, I returned to wearing it every day after an extended period of not doing so. And you know what? I was surprised by how much I’d missed it.

But one thing has bothered me this time around: There's a feature I haven't been using. Not because it’s bad, but because I tend to forget it's there.
Effortless to own and wear

Read more
3 foldable phone deals you should seriously consider today
The Google Pixel Fold with the screen open.

For those who are thinking about getting a foldable phone, we've rounded up three foldable phone deals for you to consider as your next purchase. Motorola is currently selling the Motorola Razr at $200 off, which brings its price down to $500 from $700, and the Motorola Razr Plus at $300 off, which lowers its price to $700 from $1,000. Meanwhile, the Google Pixel Fold is available from Best Buy with a $500 discount that slashes its price to $1,299 from $1,799. You can be sure that you won't regret purchasing any of these devices because they're all included in our roundup of the best folding phones, but you need to hurry because the offers may expire at any moment.
Motorola Razr -- $500, was $700

The Motorola Razr features a 1.5-inch external OLED display and a 6.9-inch Full HD+ internal pOLED display, with decent performance provided by its Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor and 8GB of RAM. It's got a 64MP main camera and a 13MP wide-angle camera at the back, plus a 32MP selfie camera inside. The folding phone features a metal chassis that's surrounded by soft but durable leather, and it folds without a gap.

Read more
The OnePlus 12R is still one of 2024’s best smartphone deals
OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition in hand.

OnePlus is still quite new to me, as I was a lifelong iPhone user until I joined Digital Trends. However, OnePlus has a pretty solid reputation in the mobile world, and now I can see why, as the OnePlus 12 is one of my favorite smartphones that I’ve used so far this year.

But the OnePlus 12 isn’t the only phone that OnePlus launched in 2024. There is also the more affordable value option, the OnePlus 12R, which even comes in a cool Genshin Impact Edition.

Read more