Apparently not.

Japanese researchers are refining a technology that allows consumer devices, specifically the iPod, to be controlled by a person winking.

I’ll leave you to read about it here, but say that it’s controlled by a camera mounted to headphones monitoring a persons eyelid movements.

Essentially this is another hands-free technology designed to make our lives easier by allowing remote control of consumer devices. This is not the first attempt and follows technologies such as voice recognition and touch screens.

While hands free usage may be convenient, this seems to me just another trivial feature to list on the box rather than an enhancement to the primary function of the device, in the case of the iPod – playing music.

It is also interesting that the new generation iPod Touch is completely controlled by a touch screen. Of course, this makes it virtually impossible to control the device without looking at it, making this blinking control really just another technology to overcome the shortcomings of another.

I do like to see this kind of advancement in technology and think that human interaction with devices will need to change to allow further practical usefulness, however until then do we really need another piece of technology only to fix the shortcomings of another and ultimately invading social interaction?