A team of scientists has taken wearable technology to the next level by making the skin or arm perform the function of the touchpad of a wearable gadget.

Dubbed as the SkinTrack systems, the technology uses a ring and a sensor attached to a smartwatch strap to generate electrical signals. It permits a user to interact with the smartwatch by swiping or tapping his or her arm or hand. As the finger touches the skin, electrical signal allows movement across the arm to be picked up by the device.

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According to a Gierad Laput, a member of the research team, one of the challenges smartwatches have is the relatively small screen to work on. Since a user's finger tend to occupy much of the devices' space, functions become limited to a few buttons and swipes.

"The great thing about SkinTrack is that it's not obtrusive; watches and rings are items that people already wear every day," Yang Zhang, a PhD student from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), said.

The technology, which was created by the Futures Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon University, also allows users to drag apps easily or create shortcuts from the smartwatch onto the entire arm. Huffington Post reported it is equipped with cutting-edge features that allow users to simply write the letter S to put incoming calls on silent mode. Furthermore, a swipe on the skin brings up the playlist and body movements replace a joystick when playing games.

"SkinTrack makes it possible to move interactions from the screen onto the arm, providing much larger interface," Chris Harrison, HCII assistant professor and research adviser, said.

According to the Daily Mail, the technology is 99 percent accurate, while the location of touches only has a mean error of 7.6 millimeters.

The team, however, does not have plans to produce the technology in large scale yet. They are still trying to find out how to supply the ring with power and how to stabilize the body.

The team said the technology does not pose any threat to the body.

TagsSkinTrack, touchpad, Wearable Technology, Futures Interfaces Group, Carnegie Mellon University