Use of an energy harvesting smart floor for indoor localization of people

The development of \u201cintelligent\u201d floors is a growing interest, but often the ensuing solutions involve high production costs as well as complicated installation and management. Aim of this paper is to propose a novel smart floor that makes use of an energy harvesting system in order to allow people localization and to track their movements in an indoor environment. The contribution starts from reviewing the state of the art of smart floor solutions, which are categorized according to the different applications they are addressed to. The system developed in this research is based on capacitive sensors that are mounted on a polymeric support and embedded between a bulk wooden base and floating parquet flooring. The paper outlines the detailed architecture of the proposed apparatus and reports the results of the preliminary test phase. The proposed solution is part of HDOMO, an Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) project aiming at the development of smart solutions for active aging

Architecture as friendly interface a digital information facility for the village of Islamorada

As the objects of technology advance, today’s ubiquitous computers may soon vacate our desktops to inhabit society as cultural artifacts. This thesis explores individual’s relationships with current communication technologies. The consideration of scale in future information systems opens the door to opportunities for improvement. Architecture becomes the medium to relieve the issues of misinformation in Islamorada, Florida. Future communication systems as conceptualized by the Cranbrook Academy of Art Industrial Design students, as well as similar systems implemented by M.l.T Media Lab students, were reviewed. Retrieving information will no longer be limited to the remote access of a computer. Information accessing will now involve interaction at an environmental scale, through the medium of walls, ceilings, furniture, etc. The examination of the Islamorada context reveals the challenge to design a progressive information facility, where island residents do not sense invasion by modern technology. The Information Facility that I am proposing for the Village of Islamorada can best be characterized as an interface, where relationships are mediated between the individual and the invisible information world. By recognizing opportunities within the concept of interface, a media center emerges, providing Islamorada residents non-intimidating access to the advanced world of digital information

Detecting Surface Interactions via a Wearable Microphone to Improve Augmented Reality Text Entry

This thesis investigates whether we can detect and distinguish between surface interaction events such as tapping or swiping using a wearable mic from a surface. Also, what are the advantages of new text entry methods such as tapping with two fingers simultaneously to enter capital letters and punctuation? For this purpose, we conducted a remote study to collect audio and video of three different ways people might interact with a surface. We also built a CNN classifier to detect taps. Our results show that we can detect and distinguish between surface interaction events such as tap or swipe via a wearable mic on the user\u27s head

Fast multi-axis tracking of magnetically-resonant passive tags : methods and applications

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-83).We have explored the design and development of magnetically-resonant tag readers for application to tangible computer interfaces. To this end, we constructed a ringdown tag reader and a swept-frequency tag reader, both capable of real-time continuous interaction with multiple tagged objects. Although the ringdown reader worked well for smaller numbers of tags, the swept-frequency tag reader proved more efficient for work with twenty to thirty tags, and so we did further work to extend and apply it. Graphical and musical applications were developed for the swept-frequency tag reader and proved its usability for driving tangible desktop interfaces. Finally, a six-coil variant was constructed in order to determine the three-dimensional position and orientation of tagged objects. This thesis describes both reader systems, outlines our demonstration applications, and gives first test results from the multiple-coil tracker.by Kai-yuh Hsiao.M.Eng

Interacção gestual sem superfícies de apoio

Tese de mestrado em Engenharia Informática (Sistemas de Informação), apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2011Os periféricos de entrada deixaram de ser a única forma de transmitir intenç-¸ ões à máquina, sendo agora possível fazê-lo com o próprio corpo. Dispositivos que permitem interacção gestual sem recurso a periféricos intermediários têm vindo a aumentar, principalmente na área dos jogos. Esta tendência levanta várias questões a serem investigadas na área da interacção pessoa-máquina. A aproximação simplista de transferir conceitos de interacção do paradigma clássico WIMP, baseado nos dispositivos tradicionais de entrada, rato e teclado, rapidamente conduz a problemas inesperados. As características de uma interface concebida para uma interacção gestual em que não há contacto com nenhum dispositivo de entrada não se irão adequar ao paradigma utilizado nos últimos 40 anos. Estamos assim em condições de explorar como a interacção gestual com ou sem voz pode contribuir para minimizar os problemas com o paradigma clássico WIMP no tipo de interacção em que não há o contacto com nenhum periférico. Neste trabalho irá ser explorado o campo da interacção gestual, com ou sem voz. Através de aplicações pretende-se conduzir vários estudos de manipulação de objectos virtuais baseada em visão computacional. A manipulação dos objectos é realizada com dois modos de interacção (gestos e voz) podendo estes surgir integrados ou não. Pretende-se analisar se a interacção gestual é apelativa para os utilizadores para alguns tipos de aplicações e acções, enquanto para outros tipos, os gestos poderão não ser a modalidade preferida de interacção.The input peripherals aren’t anymore the only way to transmit intentions to the machine, being now possible to do it with our own body. The number of devices that allow gestural interaction, without the need of intermediate peripherals, are increasing, mainly in the area of video games. This tendency raises several questions that need to be investigated in the area of person-machine interaction. The simplistic approach of transferring interaction concepts from the classic paradigm WIMP, based on the traditional input devices, mouse and keyboard, quickly leads to unexpected problems. The characteristics of an interface conceived to a gestural interaction were there isn’t any kind of contact with an input device won’t suit with the paradigm of the last 40 years. So we’re in conditions to exploit how the gestural interaction can contribute to minimize the classic paradigm issues. In this work the field of gestural interaction, with and without voice, will be analyzed. Through the use of applications, it’s intended to lead various studies of virtual objects manipulation based on computational vision. The objects manipulation is done with two kinds of interactions, gestural and voice, that may emerge integrated our not. It’s intended to analyze if the gestural interaction is appealing to the users for some kind of applications and actions, while for other types, gestural may not be the preferred interaction modality

Interacção por toque em múltiplas superfícies

Tese de mestrado, Engenharia Informática (Arquitectura, Sistemas e Redes de Computadores), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2009Actualmente, com o preço dos pixéis a diminuir, os ecrãs de computador tendem a aumentar de tamanho. Os ecrãs de parede e outras superfícies de interacção de grande dimensão são agora uma opção para muitos utilizadores. Esta tendência levanta várias questões a serem investigadas na área da interacção pessoa-máquina. A aproximação simplista de transferir os principais conceitos de interacção do paradigma clássico WIMP (Windows, Icon, Menu, Pointer / Janela, Ícone, Menu, Dispositivo Apontador), baseado nos dispositivos tradicionais de entrada, rato e teclado, rapidamente conduz a problemas inesperados. Nos últimos anos também se assistiu à emergência dos primeiros produtos comerciais a suportarem interacções multi-toque. É expectável que a tecnologia do toque se torne brevemente standard, o que já é visível em alguns mercados específicos, como o dos telemóveis. Se juntarmos as possibilidades criadas pela recente “revolução táctil” e a transição a que assistimos nos últimos anos para ecrãs de grande dimensão, estamos agora em condições de explorar como a interacção gestual pode contribuir para minimizar os problemas com o paradigma clássico WIMP em ecrãs de grande dimensão. Neste trabalho é explorado o campo da interacção gestual em ecrãs de grande dimensão. Foram conduzidos vários estudos, onde os utilizadores experimentaram interacção gestual, em várias aplicações adequadas para ecrãs de grande dimensão. Os resultados demonstram que a manipulação directa através de interacção gestual é apelativa aos utilizadores para alguns tipos de aplicações e acções, enquanto para outros tipos, os gestos não são a modalidade preferida de interacção. Posteriormente, introduziu-se o uso da interacção gestual para cenários cooperativos, discutindo a sua adequação a algumas tarefas, e a forma como os utilizadores decidem cooperativamente que tarefas realizar baseados nas modalidades de entrada disponíveis e nas características das tarefas.Nowadays, with pixels getting cheaper, computer displays tend toward larger sizes. Wall sized screens and other large interaction surfaces are now an option for many users and this trend raises a number of issues to be researched in the user interface area. The simplistic approach of transferring the main interaction concepts of the classic WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, Pointer) design paradigm, based on the traditional mouse and keyboard input devices, quickly led to unexpected problems. In recent years we also witnessed a revolution with the emergence of the first commercial products supporting multi-touch interaction. It is expected that the use of touch technology will soon become standard, and this is already visible in some specific markets, such as mobile phones. If we put together the possibilities opened up by the recent “touch revolution” and the transition we have been witnessing for the past few years to large screen displays, we are now able to explore how the use of gestural interaction can contribute to overcome the problems with the classical WIMP paradigm in large screen displays. In this work we explore the field of gestural interaction on large screen displays, conducting several studies where users experience gestural interaction in various applications suited for large displays. Results show how direct manipulation through gestural interaction appeals to users for some types of applications and actions, while demonstrating that for other types, gestures should not be the preferred interaction modality. Afterward, we introduce the use of gestural interaction for cooperative scenarios, discussing how it is more suited for some tasks, and hypothesizing on how users cooperatively decide on which tasks to perform based on the available input modalities and task characteristics

Integrating passive ubiquitous surfaces into human-computer interaction

Mobile technologies enable people to interact with computers ubiquitously. This dissertation investigates how ordinary, ubiquitous surfaces can be integrated into human-computer interaction to extend the interaction space beyond the edge of the display. It turns out that acoustic and tactile features generated during an interaction can be combined to identify input events, the user, and the surface. In addition, it is shown that a heterogeneous distribution of different surfaces is particularly suitable for realizing versatile interaction modalities. However, privacy concerns must be considered when selecting sensors, and context can be crucial in determining whether and what interaction to perform.Mobile Technologien ermöglichen den Menschen eine allgegenwärtige Interaktion mit Computern. Diese Dissertation untersucht, wie gewöhnliche, allgegenwärtige Oberflächen in die Mensch-Computer-Interaktion integriert werden können, um den Interaktionsraum über den Rand des Displays hinaus zu erweitern. Es stellt sich heraus, dass akustische und taktile Merkmale, die während einer Interaktion erzeugt werden, kombiniert werden können, um Eingabeereignisse, den Benutzer und die Oberfläche zu identifizieren. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, dass eine heterogene Verteilung verschiedener Oberflächen besonders geeignet ist, um vielfältige Interaktionsmodalitäten zu realisieren. Bei der Auswahl der Sensoren müssen jedoch Datenschutzaspekte berücksichtigt werden, und der Kontext kann entscheidend dafür sein, ob und welche Interaktion durchgeführt werden soll

Mechanical constraints as common ground between people and computers

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-149).This thesis presents a new type of human-computer interface based on mechanical constraints that combines some of the tactile feedback and affordances of mechanical systems with the abstract computational power of modern computers. The interface is based on a tabletop interaction surface that can sense and move small objects on top of it. Computation is merged with dynamic physical processes on the tabletop that are exposed to and modified by the user in order to accomplish his or her task. The system places mechanical constraints and mathematical constraints on the same level, allowing users to guide simulations and optimization processes by constraining the motion of physical objects on the interaction surface. The interface provides ample opportunities for improvisation by allowing the user to employ a rich variety of everyday physical objects as interface elements. Subjects in an evaluation were more effective at solving a complex spatial layout problem using this system than with either of two alternative interfaces that did not feature actuation.James McMichael Patten.Ph.D