Pub - point upon body

Abstract

This paper presents a novel interaction system, PUB (Point Upon Body), to explore eyes-free interaction in a personal space by allowing users tapping on their own arms to be provided with haptic feedback from their skin. Two user studies determine how users can interact precisely with their forearms and how users behave when operating in their arm space. According to those results, normal users can divide their arm space at most into 6 points between their wrists and elbows with iterative practice. Experimental results also indicate that the divided pattern of each user is unique from that of other ones. Based on the design principles from the observations, an interaction system, PUB, is designed to demonstrate how interaction design benefits from those findings. Two scenarios, remote display control and mobile device control, are demonstrated through the UltraSonic device attached on the users' wrists to detect their tapped positions.

Impact of semantic aids on command memorization for on-body interaction and directional gestures

“…Artificial landmarks may also be attached to the skin [48,49], thus providing tactile input and visual output. The forearm is generally considered as particularly appropriate [27] as it is easy to access.…”

“…Using landmarks and proprioception, users may also interact via imaginary interfaces [20,22]. Finally, it is worth noticing that tactile feedback on the skin may be helpful [27] in the absence of visual feedback (i.e., eyes-free interaction).…”

“…By flexing the finger, the user can activate the trigger. This inexpensive solution makes it possible to lay the hand on the body (which provides benefits for accuracy [27] and likely memorization) and avoids asking the user to hold a device. Short vibrations are emitted when the user's hand is close to a body location.…”

Like A Second Skin

“…Moreover, previous research has investigated mapping strategies for input elements on the skin. These include salient features on the palm [12,17,65], targets placed on the forearm [10], visual and tactile anatomical landmarks [4,74], as well as mappings between skin and an off-skin display [6].…”

zPatch

“…Much of the existing on-body input research has focused on interacting around smartwatches (e.g., [20]) as they provide both close-by visual feedback and a convenient housing for sensors. Prototypes have demonstrated the feasibility of IR sensors [18,24,36], capacitive touch [23], magnetic techniques [10], as well as approaches that send electrical [45] or ultrasonic [21] signals through the body for on-body input around smartwatches.…”