Evaluating the effectiveness of using touch sensor capacitors as an input device for a wrist watch computer

On the go computing is becoming more important for users who wish to access information from anywhere. Wearable computers are an optimal solution to achieving this feat because it allows for easy accessibility and quick use. There are many challenges that arise with small computers worn on the body. One of the most common issues is the interaction between the computer and the user and more specifically how the user enters input. In this paper we research a potential effective way to interact with a wrist watch by mounting touch sensors on the watch band.Committee Member/Second Reader: Rebecca Grinter; Faculty Mentor: Thad Starne

WRISTBAND.IO:expanding input and output spaces of a Smartwatch

Smartwatches are characterized by their small size designed for wearability, discretion, and mobile interactions. Most of the interactivity, however, is limited to the size of the display, introducing issues such as screen occlusion and limited information density. We introduce Wristband.io, a smartwatch with an extended interaction space along the wristband, enabling (i) back-of-band interaction using a touchpad, (ii) a low resolution ambient watchband display for offscreen notification, and (iii) tangible buttons for quick, eyes-free input. Insights gained through a study show that back-of-band input increases accuracy and task completion rates for smaller on-screen targets. We probe the design space of Wristband.io with three applications

WRISTBAND.IO:expanding input and output spaces of a Smartwatch

Smartwatches are characterized by their small size designed for wearability, discretion, and mobile interactions. Most of the interactivity, however, is limited to the size of the display, introducing issues such as screen occlusion and limited information density. We introduce Wristband.io, a smartwatch with an extended interaction space along the wristband, enabling (i) back-of-band interaction using a touchpad, (ii) a low resolution ambient watchband display for offscreen notification, and (iii) tangible buttons for quick, eyes-free input. Insights gained through a study show that back-of-band input increases accuracy and task completion rates for smaller on-screen targets. We probe the design space of Wristband.io with three applications

Characterizing Natural User Interface with Wearable Smart Watches

Background - The emergence of new interaction paradigms makes the use of technology inrealizing the users??? natural ways of exploring the real world the ultimate goal of designers today.Research on interactive and immersive technologies for user interface design is still a challenging chore for engineers and scientists when it comes to designing natural interaction for wearable smart devices. To address the challenge, our study aims to develop guidelines for design practitioners in designing wearable smart watches that could offer natural user experiences. Methods - To better understand natural user experiences with smart watches, an extensive literature review was conducted. A quantitative survey with 80 participants was conducted, of which the focus was on the expected functions of smart watches. Based on the survey results, we selected eight participants in terms of technology familiarity. To achieve the objectives of our research, three studies were conducted: a design workshop (Study 1), a cultural probe (Study 2), and a focus group interview (Study 3). The design workshop was created to figure out the needs and wishes people have forsmart watches. In the cultural probe, the focus was on figuring out natural interactions with smart watches. Finally, the focus group interview aimed to gain more insights from the results of the cultural probe in terms of natural user interaction with particular functions. Results - To address the needs and wishes of the users toward wearable smartwatches, we made a subdivision into three categories, such as functions, input measures, and notification (feedback) methods. According to the results, participants wanted weather notification, health monitoring, and identification as expected functions. Regarding the methodof input, voice command and touch screen were preferred. In order to get feedback, most of the participantswanted vibrations, particularly as a reaction tocompleting the commands or inputs. There was also a suggestion to customize their smart watch. For example, users can select the functions and build their own command system, and even choose the notificationmethods. Considering natural user interface with respect to functions (weather, answering a call, navigation, health monitoring, taking a picture and messaging), specific natural user interfaces were mentioned for particular functions. Conclusions - Throughout the study, people???s needs and wishes and their perceptions about natural interaction were identified and the characteristics of natural user interfacesweredetermined. Based on the results, tenperceptions were specifically defined to provide a better understanding of smart watches in terms of natural interaction: user affinity of form, awareness by familiarity, reality correspondence, behavioral extension, purpose orientation, easiness of performance, timeliness, routine acceptance, generality, and rule of thumb. In addition to that, natural user interfaces were categorized into five groups: user familiarity, realistic interaction, accomplishment assistance, contextual appropriateness, and social awareness. In this study,we tried to identify what constitutes anatural interaction and how it should be created. The limitations and further study are discussed at the end.ope

Orbits:gaze interaction for smart watches using smooth pursuit eye movements

We introduce Orbits, a novel gaze interaction technique that enables hands-free input on smart watches. The technique relies on moving controls to leverage the smooth pursuit movements of the eyes and detect whether and at which control the user is looking at. In Orbits, controls include targets that move in a circular trajectory in the face of the watch, and can be selected by following the desired one for a small amount of time. We conducted two user studies to assess the technique's recognition and robustness, which demonstrated how Orbits is robust against false positives triggered by natural eye movements and how it presents a hands-free, high accuracy way of interacting with smart watches using off-the-shelf devices. Finally, we developed three example interfaces built with Orbits: a music player, a notifications face plate and a missed call menu. Despite relying on moving controls -- very unusual in current HCI interfaces -- these were generally well received by participants in a third and final study

A Framework For Abstracting, Designing And Building Tangible Gesture Interactive Systems

This thesis discusses tangible gesture interaction, a novel paradigm for interacting with computer that blends concepts from the more popular fields of tangible interaction and gesture interaction. Taking advantage of the human innate abilities to manipulate physical objects and to communicate through gestures, tangible gesture interaction is particularly interesting for interacting in smart environments, bringing the interaction with computer beyond the screen, back to the real world. Since tangible gesture interaction is a relatively new field of research, this thesis presents a conceptual framework that aims at supporting future work in this field. The Tangible Gesture Interaction Framework provides support on three levels. First, it helps reflecting from a theoretical point of view on the different types of tangible gestures that can be designed, physically, through a taxonomy based on three components (move, hold and touch) and additional attributes, and semantically, through a taxonomy of the semantic constructs that can be used to associate meaning to tangible gestures. Second, it helps conceiving new tangible gesture interactive systems and designing new interactions based on gestures with objects, through dedicated guidelines for tangible gesture definition and common practices for different application domains. Third, it helps building new tangible gesture interactive systems supporting the choice between four different technological approaches (embedded and embodied, wearable, environmental or hybrid) and providing general guidance for the different approaches. As an application of this framework, this thesis presents also seven tangible gesture interactive systems for three different application domains, i.e., interacting with the In-Vehicle Infotainment System (IVIS) of the car, the emotional and interpersonal communication, and the interaction in a smart home. For the first application domain, four different systems that use gestures on the steering wheel as interaction means with the IVIS have been designed, developed and evaluated. For the second application domain, an anthropomorphic lamp able to recognize gestures that humans typically perform for interpersonal communication has been conceived and developed. A second system, based on smart t-shirts, recognizes when two people hug and reward the gesture with an exchange of digital information. Finally, a smart watch for recognizing gestures performed with objects held in the hand in the context of the smart home has been investigated. The analysis of existing systems found in literature and of the system developed during this thesis shows that the framework has a good descriptive and evaluative power. The applications developed during this thesis show that the proposed framework has also a good generative power.Questa tesi discute l’interazione gestuale tangibile, un nuovo paradigma per interagire con il computer che unisce i principi dei più comuni campi di studio dell’interazione tangibile e dell’interazione gestuale. Sfruttando le abilità innate dell’uomo di manipolare oggetti fisici e di comunicare con i gesti, l’interazione gestuale tangibile si rivela particolarmente interessante per interagire negli ambienti intelligenti, riportando l’attenzione sul nostro mondo reale, al di là dello schermo dei computer o degli smartphone. Poiché l’interazione gestuale tangibile è un campo di studio relativamente recente, questa tesi presenta un framework (quadro teorico) che ha lo scopo di assistere lavori futuri in questo campo. Il Framework per l’Interazione Gestuale Tangibile fornisce supporto su tre livelli. Per prima cosa, aiuta a riflettere da un punto di vista teorico sui diversi tipi di gesti tangibili che possono essere eseguiti fisicamente, grazie a una tassonomia basata su tre componenti (muovere, tenere, toccare) e attributi addizionali, e che possono essere concepiti semanticamente, grazie a una tassonomia di tutti i costrutti semantici che permettono di associare dei significati ai gesti tangibili. In secondo luogo, il framework proposto aiuta a concepire nuovi sistemi interattivi basati su gesti tangibili e a ideare nuove interazioni basate su gesti con gli oggetti, attraverso linee guida per la definizione di gesti tangibili e una selezione delle migliore pratiche per i differenti campi di applicazione. Infine, il framework aiuta a implementare nuovi sistemi interattivi basati su gesti tangibili, permettendo di scegliere tra quattro differenti approcci tecnologici (incarnato e integrato negli oggetti, indossabile, distribuito nell’ambiente, o ibrido) e fornendo una guida generale per la scelta tra questi differenti approcci. Come applicazione di questo framework, questa tesi presenta anche sette sistemi interattivi basati su gesti tangibili, realizzati per tre differenti campi di applicazione: l’interazione con i sistemi di infotainment degli autoveicoli, la comunicazione interpersonale delle emozioni, e l’interazione nella casa intelligente. Per il primo campo di applicazione, sono stati progettati, sviluppati e testati quattro differenti sistemi che usano gesti tangibili effettuati sul volante come modalità di interazione con il sistema di infotainment. Per il secondo campo di applicazione, è stata concepita e sviluppata una lampada antropomorfica in grado di riconoscere i gesti tipici dell’interazione interpersonale. Per lo stesso campo di applicazione, un secondo sistema, basato su una maglietta intelligente, riconosce quando due persone si abbracciano e ricompensa questo gesto con uno scambio di informazioni digitali. Infine, per l’interazione nella casa intelligente, è stata investigata la realizzazione di uno smart watch per il riconoscimento di gesti eseguiti con oggetti tenuti nella mano. L’analisi dei sistemi interattivi esistenti basati su gesti tangibili permette di dimostrare che il framework ha un buon potere descrittivo e valutativo. Le applicazioni sviluppate durante la tesi mostrano che il framework proposto ha anche un valido potere generativo

Deep Learning for Free-Hand Sketch: A Survey

Free-hand sketches are highly illustrative, and have been widely used by humans to depict objects or stories from ancient times to the present. The recent prevalence of touchscreen devices has made sketch creation a much easier task than ever and consequently made sketch-oriented applications increasingly popular. The progress of deep learning has immensely benefited free-hand sketch research and applications. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the deep learning techniques oriented at free-hand sketch data, and the applications that they enable. The main contents of this survey include: (i) A discussion of the intrinsic traits and unique challenges of free-hand sketch, to highlight the essential differences between sketch data and other data modalities, e.g., natural photos. (ii) A review of the developments of free-hand sketch research in the deep learning era, by surveying existing datasets, research topics, and the state-of-the-art methods through a detailed taxonomy and experimental evaluation. (iii) Promotion of future work via a discussion of bottlenecks, open problems, and potential research directions for the community.Comment: This paper is accepted by IEEE TPAM

Haptics: Science, Technology, Applications

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Human Haptic Sensing and Touch Enabled Computer Applications, EuroHaptics 2022, held in Hamburg, Germany, in May 2022. The 36 regular papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 129 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: haptic science; haptic technology; and haptic applications

WearPut : Designing Dexterous Wearable Input based on the Characteristics of Human Finger Motions

Department of Biomedical Engineering (Human Factors Engineering)Powerful microchips for computing and networking allow a wide range of wearable devices to be miniaturized with high fidelity and availability. In particular, the commercially successful smartwatches placed on the wrist drive market growth by sharing the role of smartphones and health management. The emerging Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) also impact various application areas in video games, education, simulation, and productivity tools. However, these powerful wearables have challenges in interaction with the inevitably limited space for input and output due to the specialized form factors for fitting the body parts. To complement the constrained interaction experience, many wearable devices still rely on other large form factor devices (e.g., smartphones or hand-held controllers). Despite their usefulness, the additional devices for interaction can constrain the viability of wearable devices in many usage scenarios by tethering users' hands to the physical devices. This thesis argues that developing novel Human-Computer interaction techniques for the specialized wearable form factors is vital for wearables to be reliable standalone products. This thesis seeks to address the issue of constrained interaction experience with novel interaction techniques by exploring finger motions during input for the specialized form factors of wearable devices. The several characteristics of the finger input motions are promising to enable increases in the expressiveness of input on the physically limited input space of wearable devices. First, the input techniques with fingers are prevalent on many large form factor devices (e.g., touchscreen or physical keyboard) due to fast and accurate performance and high familiarity. Second, many commercial wearable products provide built-in sensors (e.g., touchscreen or hand tracking system) to detect finger motions. This enables the implementation of novel interaction systems without any additional sensors or devices. Third, the specialized form factors of wearable devices can create unique input contexts while the fingers approach their locations, shapes, and components. Finally, the dexterity of fingers with a distinctive appearance, high degrees of freedom, and high sensitivity of joint angle perception have the potential to widen the range of input available with various movement features on the surface and in the air. Accordingly, the general claim of this thesis is that understanding how users move their fingers during input will enable increases in the expressiveness of the interaction techniques we can create for resource-limited wearable devices. This thesis demonstrates the general claim by providing evidence in various wearable scenarios with smartwatches and HMDs. First, this thesis explored the comfort range of static and dynamic touch input with angles on the touchscreen of smartwatches. The results showed the specific comfort ranges on variations in fingers, finger regions, and poses due to the unique input context that the touching hand approaches a small and fixed touchscreen with a limited range of angles. Then, finger region-aware systems that recognize the flat and side of the finger were constructed based on the contact areas on the touchscreen to enhance the expressiveness of angle-based touch input. In the second scenario, this thesis revealed distinctive touch profiles of different fingers caused by the unique input context for the touchscreen of smartwatches. The results led to the implementation of finger identification systems for distinguishing two or three fingers. Two virtual keyboards with 12 and 16 keys showed the feasibility of touch-based finger identification that enables increases in the expressiveness of touch input techniques. In addition, this thesis supports the general claim with a range of wearable scenarios by exploring the finger input motions in the air. In the third scenario, this thesis investigated the motions of in-air finger stroking during unconstrained in-air typing for HMDs. The results of the observation study revealed details of in-air finger motions during fast sequential input, such as strategies, kinematics, correlated movements, inter-fingerstroke relationship, and individual in-air keys. The in-depth analysis led to a practical guideline for developing robust in-air typing systems with finger stroking. Lastly, this thesis examined the viable locations of in-air thumb touch input to the virtual targets above the palm. It was confirmed that fast and accurate sequential thumb touch can be achieved at a total of 8 key locations with the built-in hand tracking system in a commercial HMD. Final typing studies with a novel in-air thumb typing system verified increases in the expressiveness of virtual target selection on HMDs. This thesis argues that the objective and subjective results and novel interaction techniques in various wearable scenarios support the general claim that understanding how users move their fingers during input will enable increases in the expressiveness of the interaction techniques we can create for resource-limited wearable devices. Finally, this thesis concludes with thesis contributions, design considerations, and the scope of future research works, for future researchers and developers to implement robust finger-based interaction systems on various types of wearable devices.ope

Extending mobile touchscreen interaction

Touchscreens have become a de facto interface for mobile devices, and are penetrating further beyond their core application domain of smartphones. This work presents a design space for extending touchscreen interaction, to which new solutions may be mapped. Specific touchscreen enhancements in the domains of manual input, visual output and haptic feedback are explored and quantitative and experiental findings reported. Particular areas covered are unintentional interaction, screen locking, stereoscopic displays and picoprojection. In addition, the novel interaction approaches of finger identification and onscreen physical guides are also explored. The use of touchscreens in the domains of car dashboards and smart handbags are evaluated as domain specific use cases. This work draws together solutions from the broad area of mobile touchscreen interaction. Fruitful directions for future research are identified, and information is provided for future researchers addressing those topics.Kosketusnäytöistä on muodostunut mobiililaitteiden pääasiallinen käyttöliittymä, ja ne ovat levinneet alkuperäiseltä ydinsovellusalueeltaan, matkapuhelimista, myös muihin laitteisiin. Työssä tutkitaan uusia vuorovaikutuksen, visualisoinnin ja käyttöliittymäpalautteen keinoja, jotka laajentavat perinteistä kosketusnäytön avulla tapahtuvaa vuorovaikutusta. Näihin liittyen väitöskirjassa esitetään sekä kvantitatiivisia tuloksia että uutta kartoittavia löydöksiä. Erityisesti työ tarkastelee tahatonta kosketusnäytön käyttöä, kosketusnäytön lukitusta, stereoskooppisia kosketusnäyttöjä ja pikoprojektoreiden hyödyntämistä. Lisäksi kartoitetaan uusia vuorovaikutustapoja, jotka liittyvät sormien identifioimiseen vuorovaikutuksen yhteydessä, ja fyysisiin, liikettä ohjaaviin rakenteisiin kosketusnäytöllä. Kosketusnäytön käyttöä autossa sekä osana älykästä käsilaukkua tarkastellaan esimerkkeinä käyttökonteksteista. Väitöskirjassa esitetään vuorovaikutussuunnittelun viitekehys, joka laajentaa kosketusnäyttöjen kautta tapahtuvaa vuorovaikutusta mobiililaitteen kanssa, ja johon työssä esitellyt, uudet vuorovaikutustavat voidaan sijoittaa. Väitöskirja yhdistää kosketusnäyttöihin liittyviä käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun ratkaisuja laajalta alueelta. Työ esittelee potentiaalisia suuntaviivoja tulevaisuuden tutkimuksille ja tuo uutta tutkimustietoa, jota mobiililaitteiden vuorovaikutuksen tutkijat ja käyttöliittymäsuunnittelijat voivat hyödyntää