Wearable Interactions Using Touch without a Touchscreen
HBK 2119
The ubiquitous touchscreen has become the primary mechanism with which users interact with small personal computing devices. While there is a trend showing that personal computing devices may become smaller and smaller, a primary constraint on device miniaturization is the user interface (e.g. touchscreen). Screens need to be large enough to be seen, and keyboards need enough physical space to facilitate typing. Arbitrary hardware miniaturization may lead to devices that are not usable. In this talk, I will motivate and present two sensing techniques that enables touch as an input mechanism on wearable devices without the need of a touchscreen. I will also present a haptic technique that enables touch as an output mechanism to create a unique mixed reality experience for games and videos on smartwatches. The long-term goal of this research is to develop interaction modalities that that are easy, intuitive, and efficient for interacting with small wearable devices.