Touchscreens are very common and useful nowadays. However, most of the devices are in the form of flat surfaces made from glass. But, researchers have developed a can of simple spray paint that can turn almost any object into a touchscreen.

Steering wheels, walls, toys, and furnitures can be transformed into touch sensors using the technology, dubbed "Electrick." Developed by the researchers from the Future Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Electrick effectively coats almost everything and turn it into touchscreens with the use of spray paint that conducts electricity.

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The trick here is to utilize electrically conductive coatings to any kind of objects using conductive materials. The researchers demonstrate how Electrick works, they attached a sequence of electrodes to the coated materials, applying the method called electric field tomography, to enable an algorithm to scale disruptions to the current of electricity to sense the position of the finger.

Electrick precisely recognizes the location of the finger from one centimeter. That means it could sense sliders, virtual buttons, and other controls that can be touched. To explore other potential uses, researchers used a prototype of an interactive smartphone to use it on designing a game controller or opening applications.

Chris Harrison, head of the Future Interfaces Group and assistant professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), says that it was their first time to develop a can of spray paint that turns objects into a touchscreen.

They have previously presented the technology on irregular-shaped objects, from guitars to steering wheels. The touch sensors indicate distinct functionality - like attaching a volume control on the steering wheel or an effects pedal to the guitar - that can be added to the objects.

According to Yang Zhang, a Ph.D., who was involved in the research and a student at Carnegie Mellon University, the technique of Electrick means "large or small, flat or irregular" surfaces and objects that can be "cheaply and easily" transformed. He also described Electrick in a blogpost, stating that the technology allows new interactive opportunities on a distinct set of objects and surfaces that were previously static.

Electrick will be presented by the researchers from Future Interfaces Group during the ACM CHI 2017 conference in Colorado this week.