Rendering Volumetric Haptic Shapes in Mid-Air using Ultrasound Bristol Interaction Group 2014-11-21 | For latest updates follow us at: Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIG; Twitter - @BristolIGB. Long, S. A. Seah, T. Carter and S. Subramanian, Rendering Volumetric Haptic Shapes in Mid-Air Using Ultrasound, Volume 33, Issue #7 of ACM Transactions on Graphics (Siggraph Asia) 2014. We present a method for creating three-dimensional haptic shapes in mid-air using focused ultrasound. This approach applies the principles of acoustic radiation force, whereby the non-linear effects of sound produce forces on the skin which are strong enough to generate tactile sensations. This mid-air haptic feedback eliminates the need for any attachment of actuators or contact with physical devices. The user perceives a discernible haptic shape when the corresponding acoustic interference pattern is generated above a precisely controlled two-dimensional phased array of ultrasound transducers.
SeamSleeve: Robust Arm Movement Sensing through Powered Stitching Bristol Interaction Group 2024-07-01 | SeamSleeve provides a method for using garment seams as sensing channels while retaining the benefits of regular clothing design. Conductive seams powered at low voltages stitch together everyday fabric panels, resulting in a novel sensing mechanism capable of enabling everyday motion capture. We identify optimal seam design and placement on the sleeve, and demonstrate that our approach is capable of successfully classifying arm exercises, supporting longitudinal physiotherapeutic rehabilitation beyond the clinic.Link to the paper:programs.sigchi.org/dis/2024/program/content/164488Authors: Olivia G Rustonprograms.sigchi.org/dis/2024/authors/163953 Adwait SharmaMike Fraserprograms.sigchi.org/dis/2024/authors/163225Mike Fraserprograms.sigchi.org/dis/2024/authors/163517Sponsored by: EPSRC grant # EP/M021882/2
BIG Seminar: Atau Tanaka - Sonic Interaction: From gesture to immersion Bristol Interaction Group 2020-11-13 | ...
ProtoSpray: fabricating irregularly shaped displays Bristol Interaction Group 2020-05-14 | ProtoSpray: A novel way to combine 3D printing and spraying to fabricate displays with arbitrary shapes. Ollie Hanton, Michael Wessely, Stefanie Mueller, Mike Fraser, Anne RoudautFor more information see our instructibles:instructables.com/id/ProtoSpray-How-to-Make-Your-3D-Prints-Light-UpAnd our paper: dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3313831.3376543olihanton.github.io/ProtoSpray_Paper.pdf
Mantis force feedback: Affordable - Scalable - Simple Bristol Interaction Group 2019-10-20 | www.mantis-haptic.comGareth Barnaby, Anne RoudautMantis is a highly scalable system architecture that democratizes haptic devices by enabling designers to create accurate, multiform and accessible force feedback systems. Mantis uses brushless DC motors, custom electronic controllers, and an admittance control scheme to achieve stable high-quality haptic rendering. It enables common desktop form factors but also: large workspaces (multiple arm lengths), multiple arm workspaces, and mobile workspaces. It also uses accessible components and costs significantly less than typical high-fidelity force feedback solutions which are often confined to research labs. We present our design and show that Mantis can reproduce the haptic fidelity of common robotic arms. We demonstrate its multiform ability by implementing five systems: a single desktop-sized device, a single large workspace device, a large workspace system with four points of feedback, a mobile system and a wearable one.
MorphBenches Bristol Interaction Group 2019-07-16 | MorphBenches: Using Mixed Reality Experimentation Platformsto Study Dynamic Affordances in Shape-Changing DevicesCesar Flores Cano and Anne RoudautUniversity of BristolPublished on 12 july 2019International Journal of Human - Computer StudiesDOI information: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2019.07.006
Voice User Interfaces in Schools Bristol Interaction Group 2019-05-01 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGCo-designing for Inclusion With Visually-Impaired and Sighted PupilsVoice user interfaces (VUIs) are increasingly popular, particularly in homes. However, little research has investigated their potential in other settings, such as schools. We investigated how VUIs could support inclusive education, particularly for pupils with visual impairments (VIs). We organised focused discussions with educators at a school, with support staff from local authorities and, through bodystorming, with a class of 27 pupils. We then ran a series of co-design workshops with participants with mixed-visual abilities to design an educational VUI application. This provided insights into challenges faced by pupils with VIs in mainstream schools, and opened a space for educators, sighted and visually impaired pupils to reflect on and design for their shared learning experiences through VUIs. We present scenarios, a design space and an example application that show novel ways of using VUIs for inclusive education. We also reflect on co-designing with mixed-visual-ability groups in this space.Oussama Metatla, Alison Oldfield, Taimur Ahmed, Antonis Vafeas, Sunny Miglani
Evaluating Sustainable Interaction Design of Digital Services: The Case of YouTube Bristol Interaction Group 2019-05-01 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGRecent research has advocated for a broader conception of evaluation for Sustainable HCI (SHCI), using interdisci- plinary insights and methods. In this paper, we put this into practice to conduct an evaluation of Sustainable Interaction Design (SID) of digital services. We explore how SID can contribute to corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategies. We show how a Digital Service Provider (DSP) might incorporate SID into their design process and quanti- tatively evaluate a specific SID intervention by combining user analytics data with environmental life cycle assessment. We illustrate this by considering YouTube. Replacing user an- alytics data with aggregate estimates from publicly available sources, we estimate emissions associated with the deploy- ment of YouTube to be approximately 10MtCO2e p.a. We estimate emissions reductions enabled through the use of an SID intervention from prior literature to be approximately 300KtCO2e p.a., and demonstrate that this is significant when considered alongside other emissions reduction interven- tions used by DSPs.Chris Preist, Daniel Schien, Paul Shabajee
Like Popcorn: Crossmodal Correspondences Between Scents, 3D Shapes and Emotions in Children Bristol Interaction Group 2019-05-01 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGThere is increasing interest in multisensory experiences in HCI. However, little research considers how sensory modalities interact with each other and how this may impact interactive experiences. We investigate how children associate emotions with scents and 3D shapes. 14 participants (10-17yrs) completed crossmodal association tasks to attribute emotional characteristics to variants of the "Bouba/Kiki" stimuli, presented as 3D tangible models, in conjunction with lemon and vanilla scents. Our findings support pre-existing mappings between shapes and scents, and confirm the associations between the combination of angular shapes ("Kiki") and lemon scent with arousing emotion, and of round shapes ("Bouba") and vanilla scent with calming emotion. This extends prior work on crossmodal correspondences in terms of stimuli (3D as opposed to 2D shapes), sample (children), and conveyed content (emotions). We outline how these findings can contribute to designing more inclusive interactive multisensory technologies.Oussama Metatla, Emanuela Maggioni, Clare Cullen, Marianna Obrist
Morphees+: Refining the Shape Resolution Taxonomy Through Everyday Reconfigurable Objects Bristol Interaction Group 2018-04-20 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGUsers interact with many reconfigurable objects in daily life. These objects embed reconfigurations and shapechanging features that users are familiar with. For this reason, everyday reconfigurable objects have informed the design and taxonomy of shape changing UI. However, they have never been explored systematically. In this paper, we present a data set of 82 everyday reconfigurable objects that we collected in a workshop. We discuss how they can inspire the design of reconfigurable interfaces. We particularly focus on taxonomies of reconfigurable interfaces. Taxonomies have been suggested to help design and communication among researchers, however despite their extensive use, taxonomies are rarely evaluated. This paper analyses two established taxonomies — Rasmussen’s and Roudaut’s — using daily reconfigurable objects. We show relationships between the taxonomies and area for improvements. We propose Morphees+, a refined taxonomy based on Roudaut’s Shape Resolution Taxonomy.www.morphui.comHyunyoung Kim, Celine Coutrix, Anne Roudaut
KnobSlider: Bottom-Up Design of a Shape-Changing UI for Parameters Control Bristol Interaction Group 2018-04-20 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGPhysical controls are widely used by professionals such as sound engineers or aircraft pilots. In particular knobs and sliders are the most prevalent in such interfaces. They have advantages over touchscreen GUIs, especially when users require quick and eyes-free control. However, their interfaces (e.g., mixing consoles) are often bulky and crowded. To improve this, we present the results of a formative study with professionals who use physical controllers. Based on their feedback, we propose design requirements for future interfaces for parameters control. We then introduce the design of our KnobSlider that combines the advantages of a knob and a slider in one unique shape-changing device. A qualitative study with professionals shows how KnobSlider supports the design requirements, and inspired new interactions and applications.Hyunyoung Kim, Celine Coutrix, Anne Roudaut
HCI meets Material Science Bristol Interaction Group 2018-04-20 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGHCI meets Material Science: A Literature Review of Morphing Materials for the Design of Shape-Changing InterfacesWith the proliferation of flexible displays and the advances in smart materials, it is now possible to create interactive devices that are not only flexible but can reconfigure into any shape on demand. Several Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and robotics researchers have started designing, prototyping and evaluating shape-changing devices, realising, however, that this vision still requires many engineering challenges to be addressed. On the material science front, we need breakthroughs in stable and accessible materials to create novel, proof-of-concept devices. On the interactive devices side, we require a deeper appreciation for the material properties and an understanding of how exploiting material properties can provide affordances that unleash the human interactive potential. While these challenges are interesting for the respective research fields, we believe that the true power of shape-changing devices can be magnified by bringing together these communities. In this paper we therefore present a review of advances made in shape-changing materials and discuss their applications within an HCI context.Isabel Qamar, Rainer Groh, David Holman, Anne Roudaut
SensIR: Detecting Hand Gestures with a Wearable Bracelet using Infrared Transmission and Reflection Bristol Interaction Group 2017-10-26 | Abstract: Gestures have become an important tool for natural interaction with computers and thus several wearables have been developed to detect hand gestures. However, many existing solutions are unsuitable for practical use due to low accuracy, high cost or poor ergonomics. We present SensIR, a bracelet that uses near-infrared sensing to infer hand gestures. The bracelet is composed of pairs of infrared emitters and receivers that are used to measure both the transmission and reflection of light through/off the wrist. SensIR improves the accuracy of existing infrared gesture sensing systems through the key idea of taking measurements with all possible combinations of emitters and receivers. Our study shows that SensIR is capable of detecting 12 discrete gestures with 93.3% accuracy. SensIR has several advantages compared to other systems such as high accuracy, low cost, robustness against bad skin coupling and thin form-factor.Authors: Jess Mcintosh, Asier Marzo, Mike FraserPaper: doi.org/10.1145/3126594.3126604
EchoFlex: Hand Gesture Recognition using Ultrasound Imaging Bristol Interaction Group 2017-10-10 | Jess McIntosh, Asier Marzo, Mike Fraser, and Carol Phillips. 2017. EchoFlex: Hand Gesture Recognition using Ultrasound Imaging. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '17)Recent improvements in ultrasound imaging enable new opportunities for hand pose detection using wearable devices. Ultrasound imaging has remained under-explored in the HCI community despite being non-invasive, harmless and capable of imaging internal body parts, with applications including smart-watch interaction, prosthesis control and instrument tuition. In this paper, we compare the performance of different forearm mounting positions for a wearable ultrasonographic device. Location plays a fundamental role in ergonomics and performance since the anatomical features differ among positions. We also investigate the performance decrease due to cross-session position shifts and develop a technique to compensate for this misalignment. Our gesture recognition algorithm combines image processing and neural networks to classify the flexion and extension of 10 discrete hand gestures with an accuracy above 98%. Furthermore, this approach can continuously track individual digit flexion with less than 5% NRMSE, and also differentiate between digit flexion at different joints.
Portable Acoustic Tractor Beam: build it at your home Bristol Interaction Group 2017-01-03 | Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/Acoustic-Tractor-BeamLink to the paper: http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.4972407Music: licensing.jamendo.com/en/track/680970/some-body-to-dance-bonus-track
Realization of Compact Tractor Beams using Acoustic Delay-Lines Bristol Interaction Group 2017-01-03 | A method for generating stable ultrasonic levitation of physical matter in air using single beams (also named tractor beams) is demonstrated. The method encodes the required phase modulation in passive unit cells into which the ultrasonic sources are mounted. These unit cells use waveguides such as straight and coiled tubes to act as delay-lines. It is shown that a static tractor beam can be generated using a single electrical driving signal and a tractor beam with one-dimensional movement along the propagation direction can be created with two signals. Acoustic tractor beams capable of holding millimeter-sized polymer particles of density 1.25 g/cm3 and fruit-flies (Drosophila) are demonstrated. Based on these design concepts we show that portable tractor beams can be constructed with simple components that are readily available and easily assembled enabling applications in industrial contactless manipulation and biophysics.
Force Attraction Pen: A Haptic Pen with Variable Attraction Force Bristol Interaction Group 2016-05-04 | Late Breaking Work at CHI 2016 from the BIG at the University of BristolJames Burnside, Ben Elgar, Sam Healer, Alexander Hill, Zac Ioannidis, Luke Mitchell, Paul Worgan, Anne RoudautWe present the Force Attraction Pen, a haptic stylusthat encourages the users to move in a particulardirection by providing variable attraction force feedbackbased on their actions. The tip of the stylus isaugmented with an electromagnet that can repel orattract the stylus to a metallic surface. By altering thepolarity and voltage, we change the amount anddirection of the force produced. The tactile expressionsof the stylus may enable a higher grain of controlduring tasks such as tracing an image, performingselection, and other high precision tasks. In this paperwe present the design and implementation of such asystem, along with a formative study as a preliminaryinvestigation into the haptic feedback generated by oursystem.
IStage: An Interactive Stage System Bristol Interaction Group 2016-05-04 | Late Breaking Work at CHI 2016 from the BIG at the University of Bristol.Christos Chacholiades, Cesar Flores Cano, Yuying Wang, Eman Meldah, Themis Omirou, Anne RoudautAt present, performers need a technical team of experts to control lights, on-stage displays, and to actuate multiple devices simultaneously. All these activities have to be arranged in a complex choreography in order to allow the audience to experience the illusion of the interaction between these devices and the performer’s movements. IStage is an interactive system that allows controlling the on-stage equipment through the use of body movements and gestures. The aim is to enhance the performance on-stage and at the same time to enrich the audience’s overall engagement with the show. The project contributes by presenting a generic toolkit for artists; to enable interactive performances, as well as that it is cost-effective, easy-to-use, and easy-to-install. The initial prototype involves a Microsoft Kinect 2 used as the primary sensing device to track the body gestures, in combination with a sound impact sensor. IStage uses a set of output devices: a projector, led strips, a bubble machine and audio. Lastly, we also present the results of a formative study.
NotiFall – Ambient Sonification System Using Water Bristol Interaction Group 2016-05-04 | Late Breaking Work at CHI 2016 from the BIG at the University of Bristol.Alex Harman, Hristo Dimitrov, Ruisha Ma, Sam Whitehouse, Yiu Li, Paul Worgan, Themis Omirou, Anne RoudautThis paper presents NotiFall, an experimental prototype of an ambient auditory notification system. NotiFall uses the sound of falling water to subtly notify users for non-urgent matters, such as weather alerts or emails in an unobtrusive manner. These sounds are controlled and altered in order to convey a wider range of auditory cues and information. Traditionally, ambient notification systems are application specific and are limited in the way they can transmit information. In comparison, NotiFall is easily programmable, suitable for a wide range of home and work environments, and makes use of both visual and audio cues in order to impart information.
GauntLev final Bristol Interaction Group 2016-05-04 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGA tool able to generate remote forces would allow us to handle dangerous or fragile materials without contact or occlusions. Acoustic levitation is a suitable technology since it can trap particles in air or water. However, no approach has tried to endow humans with an intertwined way of controlling it. Previously, the acoustic elements were static, had to surround the particles and only translation was possible. Here, we present the basic manoeuvres that can be performed when levitators are attached to our moving hands. A Gauntlet of Levitation and a Sonic Screwdriver are presented with their manoeuvres for capturing, moving, transferring and combining particles. Manoeuvres can be performed manually or assisted by a computer for repeating patterns, stabilization and enhanced accuracy or speed. The presented prototypes still have limited forces but symbolize a milestone in our expectations of future technology.
EMPress Bristol Interaction Group 2016-05-04 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGPractical wearable gesture tracking requires that sensors align with existing ergonomic device forms. We show that combining EMG and pressure data sensed only at the wrist can support accurate classification of hand gestures. A pilot study with unintended EMG electrode pressure variability led to exploration of the approach in greater depth. The EMPress technique senses both finger movements and rotations around the wrist and forearm, covering a wide range of gestures, with an overall 10-fold cross validation classification accuracy of 96%. We show that EMG is especially suited to sensing finger movements, that pressure is suited to sensing wrist and forearm rotations, and their combination is significantly more accurate for a range of gestures than either technique alone. The technique is well suited to existing wearable device forms such as smart watches that are already mounted on the wrist.
Cubimorph: Designing Modular Interactive Devices Bristol Interaction Group 2016-05-04 | Paper at ICRA 2016. Roudaut A., Krusteva D., McCoy M., Karnik A., Ramani K,, Subramanian S.We introduce Cubimorph, a modular interactivedevice that accommodates touchscreens on each of the sixmodule faces, and that uses a hinge-mounted turntablemechanism to self-reconfigure in the user’s hand. Cubimorphcontributes toward the vision of programmable matter whereinteractive devices reconfigure in any shape that can be madeout of a chain of cubes in order to fit a myriad offunctionalities, e.g. a mobile phone shifting into a console whena user launches a game. We present a design rationale thatexposes user requirements to consider when designinghomogeneous modular interactive devices. We present ourCubimorph mechanical design, three prototypes demonstratingkey aspects (turntable hinges, embedded touchscreens andminiaturization), and an adaptation of the probabilisticroadmap algorithm for the reconfiguration.
PowerShake: Power Transfer Interactions for Mobile Devices Bristol Interaction Group 2016-04-08 | Current devices have limited battery life, typically lasting less than one day. This can lead to situations where critical tasks, such as making an emergency phone call, are not possible. Other devices, supporting different functionality, may have sufficient battery life to enable this task. We present PowerShake; an exploration of power as a shareable commodity between mobile (and wearable) devices. PowerShake enables users to control the balance of power levels in their own devices (intra-personal transactions) and to trade power with others (inter-personal transactions) according to their ongoing usage requirements.This paper demonstrates Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) between mobile devices. PowerShake is: simple to perform on-the-go; supports ongoing/continuous tasks (transferring at ~3.1W); fits in a small form factor; and is compliant with electromagnetic safety guidelines while providing charging efficiency similar to other standards (48.2% vs. 51.2% in Qi). Based on our proposed technical implementation, we run a series of workshops to derive candidate designs for PowerShake enabled devices and interactions, and to bring to light the social implications of power as a tradable asset.
Floating charts: data plotting using free floating acoustically levitated representations Bristol Interaction Group 2016-03-23 | We introduce Floating Charts, a modular display that utilises acoustic levitation for positioning free-floating objects. Multiple objects are individually levitated to compose a dynamic floating chart with the ability to move in real time to reflect changes in data. Floating objects can have different sizes and colours to represent extra information.
Acoustic Holograms that Levitate Particles Bristol Interaction Group 2015-10-27 | Holographic acoustic elements for manipulation of levitated objects by Asier Marzo, Sue Ann Seah, Bruce W. Drinkwater, Deepak Ranjan Sahoo, Benjamin Long and Sriram Subramanian is published in Nature Communications.Caption: Acoustic holograms are projected from a flat surface and contrary to traditional holograms, they exert considerable forces on the objects contained within. The acoustic holograms can be updated in real-time to translate, rotate and combine levitated particles enabling unprecedented contactless manipulators such as tractor beams.Credit: Video courtesy of Asier Marzo, Matt Sutton, Bruce Drinkwater and Sriram Subramanian © 2015
Ixmi: Improving the experience of the audience with digital instruments Bristol Interaction Group 2015-05-28 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGThe increasing diversity and complexity of Digital Musical Instruments opens new opportunities for electronic musicians. However, it also makes electronic performances less and less accessible to the audience. They can't rely on physical properties of the instruments, and musicians' impact on the sound is almost impossible to perceive.The goal of the IXMI project is to use mixed-reality displays and 3D interfaces to augment Digital Musical Instruments in order to reveal their inner mechanisms and the engagement of musicians during performances.It is composed of :A novel approach and software called RouagesNovel mixed-reality display technologiesThe study of perception of performances with Digital Musical InstrumentsThis project is conducted at the University of Bristol by Dr Florent Berthaut in collaboration with Prof. Sriram Subramanian, Dr Diego Martinez Plasencia and Hannah Limerick. External collaborators are Dr Martin Hachet (INRIA Bordeaux), Dr David Coyle (University College Dublin) and Dr James Moore (Goldsmiths, University of London).It is funded under the Marie Curie FP7 framework / Grant Agreement PIEF-GA-2012-330770.
LeviPath: Modular Acoustic Levitation for 3D Path Visualisations 30s Bristol Interaction Group 2015-04-14 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - www.biglab.co.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGThemis Omirou, Asier Marzo, Sue Ann Seah, Sriram Subramanian. LeviPath: Modular Acoustic Levitation for 3D Path Visualisations . In Proc. CHI'15, to appear.LeviPath is a modular system to levitate objects across 3D paths. It consists of two opposed arrays of transducers that create a standing wave capable of suspending objects in mid-air. To control the standing wave, the system employs a novel algorithm based on combining basic patterns of movement. Our approach allows the control of multiple beads simultaneously along different 3D paths. Several LeviPaths can be joined together to increase the interaction space. The users can pick up the LeviPaths to take a closer look.More Information: big.cs.bris.ac.uk/projects/levipathMusic by Broke For Free "Something Elated" 2011 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)
LeviPath: Modular Acoustic Levitation for 3D Path Visualisations Bristol Interaction Group 2015-04-14 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGThemis Omirou, Asier Marzo, Sue Ann Seah, Sriram Subramanian. LeviPath: Modular Acoustic Levitation for 3D Path Visualisations . In Proc. CHI'15, to appear.LeviPath is a modular system to levitate objects across 3D paths. It consists of two opposed arrays of transducers that create a standing wave capable of suspending objects in mid-air. To control the standing wave, the system employs a novel algorithm based on combining basic patterns of movement. Our approach allows the control of multiple beads simultaneously along different 3D paths. Several LeviPaths can be joined together to increase the interaction space. The users can pick up the LeviPaths to take a closer look.More Information: big.cs.bris.ac.uk/projects/levipathMusic by Broke For Free "Something Elated" 2011 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)To control the standing wave, the system employs a novel algorithm based on combining basic patterns of movement. Our approach allows the control of multiple beads simultaneously along different 3D paths. Due to the patterns and the use of only two opposed arrays, the system is modular and can scale its interaction space by joining several LeviPaths. In this paper, we describe the hardware architecture, the basic patterns of movement and how to combine them to produce 3D path visualisations.
Control of Non-Solid Diffusers by Electrostatic Charging 30s Bristol Interaction Group 2015-04-14 | Published on Mar 3, 2015Longer Version at - youtube.com/watch?v=bqkLOdB90N8For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGDeepak Ranjan Sahoo, Diego Martinez Plasencia and Sriram Subramanian. Control of non-solid diffusers by electrostatic charging, in Proc. CHI'15.We present a novel technique to control the shape and trajectory of non-solid diffusers used in mid-air displays such as fog and bubble displays. We propose a charging technique for polar aerosols, such as mist or fog, and a control technique using electric fields to regulate the shape and trajectory of such non-solid diffusers. We report experiments that allowed us to design a charging mechanism that produces charged fog aerosols with homogeneous electrical mobility. We illustrate the proposed technique by demonstrating how electric fields can be used to control the shape of a fog display and the trajectory of a bubble display, with high-speed and high-curvatures. This technique is simple to implement and opens interesting possibilities for developing new mid-air displays and interaction techniques.More Information: big.cs.bris.ac.uk
Control of Non-Solid Diffusers by Electrostatic Charging Bristol Interaction Group 2015-04-14 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGDeepak Ranjan Sahoo, Diego Martinez Plasencia and Sriram Subramanian. Control of non-solid diffusers by electrostatic charging, in Proc. CHI'15.We present a novel technique to control the shape and trajectory of non-solid diffusers used in mid-air displays such as fog and bubble displays. We propose a charging technique for polar aerosols, such as mist or fog, and a control technique using electric fields to regulate the shape and trajectory of such non-solid diffusers. We report experiments that allowed us to design a charging mechanism that produces charged fog aerosols with homogeneous electrical mobility. We illustrate the proposed technique by demonstrating how electric fields can be used to control the shape of a fog display and the trajectory of a bubble display, with high-speed and high-curvatures. This technique is simple to implement and opens interesting possibilities for developing new mid-air displays and interaction techniques.More Information: big.cs.bris.ac.uk
Spending Time with Money Bristol Interaction Group 2014-12-16 | There is a rapidly growing momentum driving thedevelopment of mobile payment systems for co-presentinteractions, using near-field communication onsmartphones and contactless payment systems. The design(and marketing) imperative for this is to enable faster,simpler, effortless and secure transactions, yet our evidenceshows that this focus on reducing transactional friction mayignore other important features around making payments.We draw from empirical data to consider user interactionsaround financial exchanges made on mobile phones. Ourfindings examine how the practices around makingpayments support people in making connections, to otherpeople, to their communities, to the places they movethrough, to their environment, and to what they consume.While these social and community bonds shape the kinds ofinteractions that become possible, they also shape howusers feel about, and act on, the values that they hold withtheir co-users. We draw implications for future paymentsystems that make use of community connections, buildtrust, leverage transactional latency, and generateopportunities for rich social interactions.The 3DaRoC project is funded by the RCUK Digital Economy ‘Research in the Wild’ theme (grant no. EP/K012304/1). Full details of the material that this video is drawn from can be found in: Ferreira, J., Perry, M. and Subramanian, S. (2015) Spending Time with Money: from shared values to social connectivity. To be published in Proc. ACM CSCW’15, March 14-18, 2015, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIG
Rendering Volumetric Haptic Shapes in Mid-Air using Ultrasound - Fast Forward Bristol Interaction Group 2014-11-10 | For latest updates follow us at: Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIG; Twitter - @BristolIGB. Long, S. A. Seah, T. Carter and S. Subramanian, Rendering Volumetric Haptic Shapes in Mid-Air Using Ultrasound, Volume 33, Issue #7 of ACM Transactions on Graphics (Siggraph Asia) 2014. Full Video at - youtube.com/watch?v=kaoO5cY1aHkWe present a method for creating three-dimensional haptic shapes in mid-air using focused ultrasound. This approach applies the principles of acoustic radiation force, whereby the non-linear effects of sound produce forces on the skin which are strong enough to generate tactile sensations. This mid-air haptic feedback eliminates the need for any attachment of actuators or contact with physical devices. The user perceives a discernible haptic shape when the corresponding acoustic interference pattern is generated above a precisely controlled two-dimensional phased array of ultrasound transducers.
VideoHandles: Replicating Gestures to Search Through Action-Camera Video Bristol Interaction Group 2014-10-20 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGJarrod Knibbe, Sue Ann Seah, Mike Fraser, VideoHandles: Replicating Gestures to Search Through Action-Camera Video, in Proc. of SUI 2014VideoHandles is a novel interaction technique for searching through action-camera (e.g. GoPro) video collections. Action-cameras are designed to be mounted, switched on and then ignored as they record the entirety of the wearer’s chosen activity. This results in a large amount of footage that may only include a small number of interesting moments. When reviewing the footage later, these interesting moments are hard to locate.VideoHandles presents a novel solution to this problem, enabling the wearer to search through the footage by replaying actions they performed during the initial capture. For example, a diver goes for a long dive and communicates with their buddy throughout using a series of hand gestures. On one occasion, the diver sees a puffer fish and gestures ‘puffer fish’ to their buddy (a fish swimming motion, followed by a mimicked inflation) so that they can see it too. Later, using VideoHandles, the diver repeats the puffer fish gesture in front of the camera in order to locate that exact moment in their footage. Alongside returning the puffer fish footage, VideoHandles also returns all other moments including the ‘fish swimming’ gesture – a key component of all fish gestures in scuba diving.The VideoHandles work explored action-camera use across a large collection of footage and presented a number of interaction styles and usage scenarios, both enthusiast and professional, including biking, windsurfing and archaeological excavation.
Through the combining glass Bristol Interaction Group 2014-10-02 | Reflective optical combiners like beam splitters and two way mirrors are used in AR to overlap digital contents on the usersí hands or bodies. Augmentations are usually unidirectional, either reflecting virtual contents on the userís body (Situated Augmented Reality) or augmenting userís reflections with digital contents (AR mirrors). But many other novel possibilities remain unexplored. For example, user’s hands, reflected inside a museum AR cabinet, can allow visitors to interact with the artifacts exhibited. Projecting on the user’s hands as their reflection cuts through the objects can be used to reveal objects’ internals. Augmentations from both sides are blended by the combiner, so they are consistently seen by any number of users, independently of their location or, even, the side of the combiner through which they are looking. This paper explores the potential of optical combiners to merge the space in front and behind them. We present this design space, identify novel augmentations/interaction opportunities and explore the design space using three prototypes. Reference:‘Through the combining glass’, Diego Martinez Plasencia, Florent Berthaut, Abhijit Karnik, Sriram Subramanian, Proceedings of ACM UIST 201427th ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium.Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIG
Digital Green Doors Bristol Interaction Group 2014-05-06 | The Greendoors app: information about retrofitting open days at your fingertips: greendoors.cs.bris.ac.ukFor latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIG
MisTable: Reach-through Personal Screens for Tabletops - PREVIEW Bristol Interaction Group 2014-04-11 | ...
MisTable: Reach-through Personal Screens for Tabletops - PREVIEW Bristol Interaction Group 2014-04-11 | ...
SensaBubble: A Chrono-Sensory Mid-Air Display of Sight and Smell Bristol Interaction Group 2014-04-10 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGSue Ann Seah, Diego Martinez Plasencia, Peter Bennett, Abhijit Karnik, Vlad Otrocol, Jarrod Knibbe, Andy Cockburn, Sriram Subramanian. SensaBubble: A Chrono-Sensory Mid-Air Display of Sight and Smell. In Proc. CHI'14, to appear.We present SensaBubble, a chrono-sensory mid-air display system that generates scented bubbles to deliver information to the user via a number of sensory modalities. The system reliably produces single bubbles of specific sizes along a directed path. Each bubble produced by SensaBubble is filled with fog containing a scent relevant to the notification. The chrono-sensory aspect of SensaBubble means that information is presented both temporally and multimodally. Temporal information is enabled through two forms of persistence: firstly, a visual display projected onto the bubble which only endures until it bursts; secondly, a scent released upon the bursting of the bubble slowly disperses and leaves a longer-lasting perceptible trace of the event. We report details of SensaBubble's design and implementation, as well as results of technical and user evaluations. We then discuss and demonstrate how SensaBubble can be adapted for use in a wide range of application contexts -- from an ambient peripheral display for persistent alerts, to an engaging display for gaming or education.More Information: big.cs.bris.ac.uk/projects/sensabubbleMusic by Alex "Emerge" 2011 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0)
MisTable: Reach-through Personal Screens for Tabletops Bristol Interaction Group 2014-04-10 | For latest updates follow us at:Website - http://big.cs.bris.ac.ukFacebook - facebook.com/BristolIGTwitter - @BristolIGDiego M. Plasencia, Edward Joyce, Sriram Subramanian, MisTable: Reach-through Personal Screens for Tabletops, In Proc. CHI'14, to appear.We present MisTable, a tabletop system that combines a conventional horizontal interactive surface with personal screens between the user and the tabletop surface. These personal screens, built using fog, are both see-through and reach-through. Being see-through provides direct line of sight of the personal screen and the elements behind it on the tabletop. Being reach-through allows the user to switch from interacting with the personal screen to reaching through it to interact with the tabletop or the space above it. The personal screen allows a range of customisations and novel interactions such as presenting 2D personal contents on the screen, 3D contents above the tabletop or augmenting and relighting tangible objects differently for each user. Besides, having a personal screen for each user allows us to customize the view of each of them according to their identity or preferences. Finally, the personal screens preserve all well-established tabletop interaction techniques like touch and tangible interactions.More information at http://big.cs.bris.ac.uk/projects/mistableMusic by WASARU Browntown Station
Perception of Ultrasonic Haptic Feedback on the Hand: Localisation and Apparent Motion Bristol Interaction Group 2014-04-03 | ...
Error Related Negativity in Observing Interactive Tasks Bristol Interaction Group 2014-03-14 | Error Related Negativity is triggered when a user either makes a mistake or the application behaves differently from their expectation. It can also appear while observing another user making a mistake. This paper investigates ERN in collaborative settings where observing another user (the executer) perform a task is typical and then explores its applicability to HCI. We first show that ERN can be detected on signals captured by commodity EEG headsets like an Emotiv headset when observing another person perform a typical multiple-choice reaction time task. We then investigate the anticipation effects by detecting ERN in the time interval when an executer is reaching towards an answer. We show that we can detect this signal with both a clinical EEG device and with an Emotiv headset. Our results show that online single trial detection is possible using both headsets during tasks that are typical of collaborative interactive applications. However there is a trade-off between the detection speed and the quality/prices of the headsets. Based on the results, we discuss and present several HCI scenarios for use of ERN in observing tasks and collaborative settings.
Changibles: Analyzing and Designing Shape Changing Constructive Assembly Bristol Interaction Group 2014-01-20 | Anne Roudaut, Rebecca Reed, Tianbo Hao, Sriram Subramanian, Changibles: Analyzing and Designing Shape Changing Constructive Assembly. In Proc. CHI'14, to appear.Abstract: Advances in shape changing assemblies have been made in reconfiguration algorithms, hardware designs and interaction techniques. However no tools exist for guiding designers in building those modular devices and especially for choosing the shape of the units. The task becomes even more complex when the units themselves can change their shapes to animate the entire assembly. In this paper, we contribute with the first analysis tool which helps the designer to both choose the right subset of forms for the units and to create an assembly with maximum accuracy from the set of given objects. We introduce the concept of Changibles that are interactive wireless units that can reshape themselves and be attached together to create an animated assembly. We present a use case to demonstrate the use of our tool, with an instantiation of six Changibles that are used to construct a pulsing heart assembly.We thank x-io Tech. Ltd for access to the x-OSC boards (http://www.x-io.co.uk/). This work is funded by the EC's 7th framework programme through the FET Open scheme (grant no. 309191).Music: Charles Ludig
UltraHaptics: Multi-Point Mid-Air Haptic Feedback for Touch Surfaces Bristol Interaction Group 2013-09-26 | Published and presented at UIST '13Authors: Tom Carter, Sue Ann Seah, Benjamin Long, Bruce Drinkwater, Sriram SubramanianWe introduce UltraHaptics, a system designed to provide multi-point haptic feedback above an interactive surface. UltraHaptics employs focused ultrasound to project discrete points of haptic feedback through the display and directly on to users' unadorned hands. We investigate the desirable properties of an acoustically transparent display and demonstrate that the system is capable of creating multiple localised points of feedback in mid-air. Through psychophysical experiments we show that feedback points with different tactile properties can be identified at smaller separations. We also show that users are able to distinguish between different vibration frequencies of non-contact points with training. Finally, we explore a number of exciting new interaction possibilities that UltraHaptics provides.More information: http://big.cs.bris.ac.uk/projects/ultrahaptics
Morphees: Toward High Shape Resolution in Self- Actuated Flexible Mobile Devices at CHI2013 Bristol Interaction Group 2013-04-26 | Morphees: Toward High "Shape Resolution" in Self- Actuated Flexible Mobile Devices at CHI2013Anne Roudaut, Abhijit Karnik, Markus Löchtefeld, Sriram SubramanianUniversity of Bristol and DFKI Saarbrücken.We introduce the term shape resolution, which adds to the existing definitions of screen and touch resolution. We propose a framework, based on a geometric model (Non- Uniform Rational B-splines), which defines a metric for shape resolution in ten features. We illustrate it by comparing the current related work of shape changing devices. We then propose the concept of Morphees that are self-actuated flexible mobile devices adapting their shapes on their own to the context of use in order to offer better affordances. For instance, when a game is launched, the mobile device morphs into a console-like shape by curling two opposite edges to be better grasped with two hands. We then create preliminary prototypes of Morphees in order to explore six different building strategies using advanced shape changing materials (dielectric electro active polymers and shape memory alloys). By comparing the shape resolution of our prototypes, we generate insights to help designers toward creating high shape resolution Morphees.More information at http://big.cs.bris.ac.uk
