Why is Finger Recognition useful?

Finger Recognition helps both students and teachers. Students learn to use the correct fingers right from the start. Because incorrect finger movements aren’t reinforced, Finger Recognition decreases the overall amount of time that it takes to become proficient in this fine motor skill.

Teachers, in turn, have less work to do, because the Finger Recognition system detects incorrect finger use. Students self-correct after they use the wrong finger; they hear the TINK sound that lets them know they made a mistake, and then have the gloves’ colors to show them the correct finger to use.

How accurate is the Finger Recognition technology?

If you set the system up in good lighting, the Finger Recognition system is 99% accurate.

Good lighting is essential. Otherwise the system can have difficulty distinguishing between, for example, the red pinky and the orange ring finger, or the light blue left index finger from the dark blue right one.

What’s the best lighting to use when I set up?

Our Lighting Guide helps you understand how to give the Finger Recognition system the lighting that it needs to perform well.



How do I put the mirror on?

The mirror slips on over your MacBook’s built-in webcam. Make sure that the clip inside, what we call the ’ponytail,’ is behind the screen, and not in front of the webcam. If it ends up in front, then it will block the camera. This photo shows it being clipped on correctly:

The App also has a visual guide that helps you center the mirror properly, as shown here:

 

I have to wear gloves to practice typing?

The colors on the gloves’ fingers are what allow the Finger Recognition system to detect which finger presses the key.

In testing, we have found that people readily adapt to wearing the gloves, and by the 2nd or 3rd session, are perfectly comfortable with them. The are made of a silky spandex material that is soft on your skin, and they have holes at the fingertips so that you can feel the keys.

How does the Finger Recognition technology work?

We’re glad you asked!

The Finger Recognition system harnesses the same technology that self-driving cars do, namely Computer Vision.

The computer vision libraries and algorithms enable the system to distinguish between your different fingers thanks to the different color each finger has.

The system looks at the airspace above a particular key when you press it. From the image coming from your webcam, it looks at all the pixels in this region. It then analyzes them to determine which color is most prominent.

If it determines that the color is the correct one for the key, it moves the Lesson to the next letter. Or if it determines that the student used an incorrect finger, then she hears the TINK sound — auditory feedback that she used a wrong finger — and the Lesson does not advance forward.

As noted above, the system does incorporate an ’escape’ feature. If either you are having trouble with a particular finger / key combination (like using your light blue-colored right index finger on the dark blue-colored ’B’ key); or the system is generating errors (likely due to poor lighting); then on the third keypress, the Lesson moves forward regardless of the finger you used.

What are the system requirements for the Finger Recognition system?

This first version of the Finger Recognition system runs on MacBooks ONLY.

More specifically, your MacBook needs to be from 2011 or newer, and has to be running at least macOS 10.12 (‘Sierra’) or later.

Our hope is that there will be sufficient demand to enable us to port this helpful new technology over to Chromebooks and Windows.

When will I be able to use Finger Recognition on my Chromebook? On my Windows laptop?

If you would like to be informed when we have concrete plans to develop these versions, please leave us your name and email address:

 
 
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