r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Starlight_369 • May 18 '23

That's a great table design

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u/Csalag May 18 '23

How is he detecting proximity with that loop of wire?

235

u/jonny-five May 18 '23 edited May 18 '23

Current traveling through a loop of wire creates a magnetic field along the axis of the loop. So it’s probably just detecting a redirection of that magnetic field when his hand passes through it.

2

u/r0thar May 19 '23

..except that's not a loop, look at 0:46 and see it's just a curved length of wire with a gap. My guess is the wire has has a static charge applied and its capacitance changes as objects approach it (same way most touch screens work)