Anyone who owns a smartphone knows what a pain in the ass it is to have to tug off your gloves in the dead of winter just to make a phone call or respond to a text message. In order for a capacitative touchscreen—the touchscreen technology used in the majority of touch-capable phones, tablets and computers today—to register that it’s being asked to do something, you have to poke it with something that conducts electricity like a finger or a stylus.

(A capacitative touchscreen panel is typically made from glass, which acts as an insulating agent, and a conductive material like indium tin oxide, or ITO. A current is run through the panel. When you touch the panel with another electrically conductive object like your finger, the electrical current being run through the panel is disrupted, which translates into on screen action.)

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