A peek into Nokia's research labs reveals some intriguing possibilities on how we will interact with our devices in the future. Embedded chips could help phones "smell," electronically stretchable skins could change the shape of devices and make them fit like gloves on your hand, and gestures could mean the end of pecking and hunting on mobile displays. Some future touchscreen displays might even give you tactile feedback -- using tiny electrical shocks. So while Nokia may be a bit behind the curve in developing touchscreen interfaces, its R&D department is not standing still. Check out the five big ideas that are currently under development at Nokia Research Center. Photo: Andrea Vascellari/Flickr

Touchscreens Everywhere Today, touchscreens are pieces of glass backed by specially calibrated sensors. But Nokia researchers are experimenting with turning any display -- the flatscreen TV in your living room, or the big monitor in your study -- into a touchscreen. All you need is a mobile phone with a camera, plus a special app. "Cameras on mobile phones are getting so good that they can capture an incredible level of detail in different environments," say Henry Tirri, head of Nokia research center. To set it up, the mobile phone is placed on a tripod or a stand to keep it steady. It can be anywhere from 6 feet to 13 feet from the larger display. Through an HDMI cable, the phone is hooked to the display. When the phone's camera is turned on, it first calibrates itself by recognizing the borders of the larger display. Then the existing screen from the mobile phone shows up on the larger display. At that point, users can touch the larger screen to "click" on something and swipe to scroll. The interface could be useful if you have a mini-projector in your pocket and want to use your mobile phone for a more interactive sales presentation or videogame, says Nokia. The idea is still in its early stages. Researchers are working to improve it so it can work even under low-lighting conditions. "It's important to have a strong contrast between the hand and the screen," says Tirri. Photo: Priya Ganapati/Wired.com

Electronics That Stretch Like Rubber Electronics circuits today are solid and rigid, which limits the shapes our mobile devices can have. For the most part, we're limited to an unchanging square or rectangular bricks. Nokia is hoping a breakthrough in its labs could change that. Along with the University of Cambridge, its researchers are working on a technology that can create a flexible "electronic skin." That means an almost jellylike substance that can be stretched easily. The electronic skin uses evaporated gold as a conductor. Researchers have created an electronic touchpad that can be pulled like a rubber band. Yet it responds to touch and pressure. The team has been able to stretch it by up to 20 percent of its original length without any drop in performance. If this electronic skin is successful, it could enable development of phones that could be shaped into bracelets for evening wear, then spring back into brick form for the next workday. It could usher in entirely new designs for electronic devices. Photo courtesy Nokia

Devices That Can Smell The ability to “smell” could make mobile devices a lot more interesting. Nokia researchers say nanowires can help make it happen. By placing a nanowire, ultrathin wires made of metallic or semiconducting material, on top of a chip, researchers can train the chip to recognize substances that are placed close to the sensing surface. "This all happens at a nanometer scale, where the current passing through the nanowire is influenced by its immediate surroundings," explains the Nokia blog. "Place a different substance near it and the current running through the wire will react differently." The technology still has a long way to go, but so far researchers have been able to show that the nanowire sensor can correctly identify some substances, such as ethanol. Researchers hope the technology can get sophisticated enough to identify complex molecular mixtures -- similar to how our noses work.

Sign 'S' for Silence Accelerometers are part of most smartphones today. But they are mostly used to shift the screen's user interface between landscape and portrait modes, in order to sync with how users hold the phone. These sensors can be integrated with user interfaces in better ways. Researchers showed how gestures such as drawing the word 'F' in air could help open the FM radio or moving the phone in the shape of the letter 'W' could help trigger the web browser. Gestures could also be used to lock and unlock the phone. Some of the ideas could make their way into devices within the next two to three years, say the researchers. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com