Intuitive Interaction with UFC
Demonstaration
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Introduction
We consider that future wearable computers are to provide an intuitive convenience lifestyle for us. In the life environment of nowadays, we have to approach near to a light switch and touch it to turn a light on. To send a file to a computer that is connected to a network, we may remember the network address of the target computer or select it from a list of networked devices. Such conventional tasks can become obstructive when the environment contains many devices with non-descriptive names.Ubiquitous Environment and Intuitive Interaction DeviceReigl, Ringwald, and Swindells studied on spontaneous interaction devices [1-3]. However their inventions force us to go near to sensor devices or require a cumbersome solar panel.
We developed new input device, wearable computer, and ubiquitous environment that enable us to spontaneously control various devices such as DVD player, lights, and etc or to transmit a file to a computer to which a person intuitively points by throwing gesture[4].Demonstration ScenarioIn the ubiquitous environment, there are many Zigbee nodes to provide location based services for users. To offer location-based services, a location server continuously updates the location information of users and devices in the environment. The location server also contains detailed information of users and devices such as IP address and port number. Users can get the information by accessing the server via wireless LAN. The location server interoperates with a wearable computer that is called as ubiquitous fashionable computer (UFC).
We developed iThrow, a tiny input device for the intuitive interaction services. It can be worn on the back of user's hand and cooperates with his/her wearable computer. iThrow consists of two sensors and a microcontroller. A three-axis accelerometer is for gesture recognition, a three-axis magneto-resistive sensor is for finding the angle of view, and a microcontroller is for signal processing.
The above figure shows the relationship of the location server, UFC, and iThow. In the ubiquitous environment, a user that wears a wearable computer and iThrow can control the user's computer or other devices by using simple hand gestures. iThrow will recognize the hand gesture and direction and send the results to the wearable computer. Then the wearable computer will send the angle of view to the location server, which contains the user's current location, to get the detailed information about the target device to which the user points. The information consists of device class, IP address, and Port number. By using the information, users will be able to connect to the target devices and control them.
In this manner, users wearing iThrow can uses their simple and intuitive hand gestures to control devices in our ubiquitous environment.
We developed a wearable computer called as ubiquitous fashionable computer (UFC). Using the UFC and our ubiquitous enviroment, we developed an intuitive interaction scheme. which demonstration environment comprises the UFC, a location server, location sensors, a DVD player, a computer, and a light. The DVD player and the computer share the same display, which is a PDP as shown in the following figures. A man wears the UFC with the iThrow device in the ubiquitous environment, controls a light and a DVD player by gesture, and sends a music file or a picture file from his UFC to the desktop computer by throwing gesture, where controlled target devices are intuitively identified by his angle of view and location. The electric compass included the iThrow device provides his angle of view. The location server provides his location and the location and IP address of target devices.
[1] [2] [1] A man is pointing to the electric lamp and rolling his wrist right.
[2] Then, the electric lamp is turned on.
[3] [4] [3][4] He plays the DVD by moving his arm from left side to right side.
[5] [6] [19] He is turning up the DVD volume by rolling his wrist right.
[20] He is turning down the DVD volume by rolling his wrist left.
[7] [8]
[7] He turned back from the DVD player to the electric lamp. And he is rolling his wrist left to turn off the lamp, to which he points.
[8] Then electric lamp is turned off.
[9] [10] [9] He moves to the public display.
[10] He is turning off the DVD player on the public display by moving arm from left side to right side.
[11] [12] [11] He is selecting a picture file, which he wants to see, with his wearable keyboard.
[12] He is sending the image file from his UFC to the desktop computer by throwing gesture.
[13] [14] [13] After the file transfer completed, the picture is displayed in the public display.
[14] He is rolling his wrist right to enlarge the size of picture on the display.
[15] [16] [15] He is rolling his wrist left to reduce the size of image on the display.
[16] He is selecting a music file in his wearable computer with his wearable keyboard.
[17] [18] [17] He is sending the music file selected from his wearable computer to the desktop computer by throwing gesture.
[18] Then music player program is shown up in the display, and plays the music file.
[19] [20] [19] He is turning up the music volume by rolling his wrist right.
[20] He is turning down the music volume by rolling his wrist left.[1] Michael Reigl, "Point and Click - Interaction in Smart Environments", Handheld and Ubiquitous Computering, p311-313, 1999
[2] Matthias Ringwald, "Spontaneous Interaction with Everyday Devices Using a PDA", Workshop on Supporting Spontaneous Interaction in Ubiquitous Computing Settings at Ubicomp, 2002.
[3] Colin Swindells, Kori M. Inkepn, John C. Dill, and Melanie Tory, "That one there! Pointing to establish device identity", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 2002.
[4] Jong-won Yoo, Woo-min Hwang, Sung-hoon Baek, and Kyu-Ho Park,"Intuitive Interface Device for Wearable Computers", Korean Institute of Next Generation PC (KING PC), 2005.
Last Update: Dec.20, 2005