This pictorial presents a novel method to render color patterns using electrolysis applied onto open wet surfaces. By implementing electrodes within a wet object and electrifying them, electrolysis can occur and generate ions. We designed a color-forming display using color indicators reacting with such ions. This method can display patterns according to the shape of the electrode. By reversing the polarity of the electrodes and generating reversed-polarity ions, it is possible to fade the existing pattern and display a contrasting color. The proposed method does not require moving parts; thus, it is low cost and easy to compact. Also, some foods containing pH-reactive substances can be used as a display medium. Therefore, the proposed method can realize an information display using various objects common in everyday life, such as decor or food.

Due to its natural warmth, wood is frequently used to produce touchable objects such as furniture and signboards. Laser cutting machines are becoming common in personal wood processing to cut and engrave wood. In this paper, we propose a method and workflow for producing various sensors and electrical circuits for interactive devices by partially carbonizing the wood surface with a laser cutting machine. Similar to wiring on a conventional printed circuit board (PCB), the carbonized part functions as a conductive electrical path. A method for creating electronic circuits and sensors made of carbon graphene on botanical materials has been proposed. This technique makes use of a raster-scanning femtosecond (fs) laser, which is less common for personal fabrication than a constant-wave (CW) laser. Moreover, raster-scanning requires a substantial amount of time to create a circuit that is mainly made of conductive lines. This paper extends the method with a defocused vector-scanning CW laser beam and reduces the time and cost required for fabrication. The proposed method uses an affordable CW laser cutter to fabricate an electrical circuit, including touch sensors, damage sensors, and load sensors on wood boards. The circuit can be easily connected to traditional PCBs and electric parts such as one-board microcomputers using metal screws and nails typically used in DIY woodworking. We develop ease of use software design tool that supports the creation and fabrication of carbon paths. In addition, we report on a series of investigations, including optimizing wood materials and laser parameters to establish design guidelines.

Vehicle dashboard cameras are becoming an increasingly popular kind of automotive accessory. While it is easy to obtain the high-definition video data recorded by dashcams using Secure Digital memory cards, this data is rarely used except for safety purposes because it takes substantial time and effort to review or edit many hours of such recorded videos. In this paper, we propose a new usage for this data through the automatic video editing system we have developed that can create enjoyable video summaries of road trips utilizing video and other data from the vehicle. We also report the results of comparisons between automatically edited videos created by the proposed system and manually edited videos created by study participants. The prototype developed in this study and the findings from our experiments will contribute to improving the driving experience by providing entertainment for automobile users after road trips, and by memorializing their travels.

Research was conducted on a digital information display using electrolysis bubbles. Although the research mainly focused on information displays in daily life, the ephemerality of bubbles is also a promising method for dynamic art installations. In this paper, we present two novel artworks using this electrolysis bubble display mechanism. First, we present “UTAKATA,” a ticker-like bubble display, using a running-water channel. Seven electrodes are placed linearly on the channel bed, and they generate text messages using bubble dots that drift toward the lower end of the channel. Second, we present the “Bubble Mirror,” which is a water pan with a camera that captures a visitor’s face and displays it using electrolysis bubbles as pixels. Facial images with six levels of grayscales are displayed on the water surface using 32 × 32 electrodes. We evaluated the output properties of these configurations and discuss the results obtained.

We propose a method for controlling a device that draws letters and illustrations on large, flat surfaces. Similarly to conventional inkjet printers, the device ejects a volume of water from its nozzle, with the water droplets then forming dots on surfaces such as soil, concrete, and sand. Both the direction of the nozzle and the water pressure can be controlled to enable the device to draw arbitrary two-dimensional patterns within a semicircular region with a radius of six meters. The device can draw letters and illustrations. We have investigated the pressure, the shape of the nozzle, and droplet size in order to avoid further division of the droplets into even smaller droplets while traversing the air. In this paper, we introduce the mechanism of this device and demonstrate how a user can take advantage of this new drawing tool.

In this paper, we investigated how "lying down'' body postures affected the use of the smartphone user interface (UI) design. Extending previous research that studied body postures, handgrips, and the movement of the smartphone. We have done this in three steps; (1) An online survey that examined what type of lying down postures, participants, utilized when operating a smartphone; (2) We broke down these lying down postures in terms of body angle (i.e., users facing down, facing up, and on their side) and body support; (3) We conducted an experiment questioning the effects that these body angles and body supports had on the participants' handgrips. What we found was that the smartphone moves the most (is the most unstable) in the "facing up (with support)'' condition. Additionally, we discovered that the participants preferred body posture was those that produced the least amount of motion (more stability) with their smartphones.

We propose "Ohmic-Sticker'', a novel force-to-motion type input device to extend capacitive touch surfaces. It realizes various types of force-sensitive inputs by simply attaching on to commercial touchpads or touchscreens. A simple force-sensitive-resistor (FSR)-based structure enables thin (less than 2 mm) form factors and battery-less operation. The applied force vector is detected as the leakage current from the corresponding touch surface electrodes by using Ohmic-Touch technology. Ohmic-Sticker can be used for adding force-sensitive interactions to touch surfaces, such as analog push buttons, TrackPoint-like devices, and full 6 DoF controllers for navigating virtual spaces. In this paper, we report a series of investigations on the design requirements of Ohmic-Sticker and some prototypes.We also evaluate the performance of Ohmic-Sticker as a pointing device.

Research was conducted regarding a display that presents digital information using bubbles. Conventional bubble displays require moving parts, because it is common to use air taken from outside of the water to represent pixels. However, it is difficult to increase the number of pixels at a low cost. We propose a liquid-surface display using pixels of bubble clusters generated from electrolysis, and present the cup-type device BubBowl, which generates a 10×10 pixel dot matrix pattern on the surface of a beverage. Our technique requires neither a gas supply from the outside nor moving parts. Using the proposed electrolysis method, a higher-resolution display can easily be realized using a PCB with a higher density of matrix electrodes.Moreover, the method is simple and practical, and can be utilized in daily life, such as for presenting information using bubbles on the surface of coffee in a cup.

When an object is interposed between a touch surface and a finger/touch pen, the change in impedance caused by the object can be measured by the driver software. This phenomenon has been used to develop new interaction techniques. Unlike previous works that focused on the capacitance component in impedance, Ohmic-Touch enhances touch input modality by sensing resistance. Using 3D printers or inkjet printers with conductive materials and off-the-shelf electronic components/sensors, resistance is easily and precisely controllable. We implement mechanisms on touch surfaces based on the electrical resistance of the object: for example, to sense the touching position on an interposed object, to identify each object, and to sense light, force, or temperature by using resistors and sensors. Additionally, we conduct experimental studies that demonstrate that our technology has a recognition accuracy of the resistance value of 97%.

In general, routine every-day work tends to be boring and monotonous, e.g. housework. Work songs have been written and sung by workers to reduce their labor load. In addition, text-to-song synthesizer software such as Yamaha's VOCALOID™ is commonly used by a wide variety of computer music creators. In this paper, we propose a real-time music synthesizer named "conteXinger". This system sings lyrics based on the listener's context, including the use of home appliances, e.g. vacuum cleaner, refrigerator, microwave oven, or dish washer, and Internet information, e.g. SNS messages, Web news, and weather reports. By presenting the synthesized music to a user through a home audio system or headphones, our system entertains users who may be bored due to their everyday work routines.

Drawing characters or images using smartphones and tablets is much easier than drawing using trackpads commonly equipped in laptops and desktop computers. The reason is that tablets are absolute coordinate input devices, whereas trackpads are relative coordinates input devices similar to conventional mouse. However, most of the modern laptops have trackpads approximately the same size as a smartphone screen, and they have enough space for hand-writing. We believe that modern trackpads would allow users to write easily as smartphones or tablets, if they properly provide an absolute coordinates input mode. This paper proposes a novel input technique that aims to switch between relative and absolute coordinates input methods seamlessly based on the "carbon copy" metaphor. We display a small workspace ("carbon copy area") on a computer screen that corresponds one-to-one with the handy trackpad. The user can input hand-written characters or images using absolute coordinates input on this virtual carbon copy paper and move it anywhere using relative coordinates. Our technique allows a user to call both absolute and relative coordinates input methods and use them appropriately with arbitrary timing. We developed a prototype application software to utilize this technique based on a preliminary experiment.

Projection mapping uses a compensation technique to project images correctly on 3D buildings or real-world objects rather than on ordinary flat projection screens. In this study, we reverse this procedure in order to assist with toy block assembly and scanning methods.

Many women enjoy applying makeup. Eye makeup is especially important for face makeup, because eyeshadow color and eyeline shape can dramatically change a person's impression on others. In addition to standard eye makeup, there is "artistic eye makeup," which tends to have a greater variety of designs and is more ostentatious than standard eye makeup. Artistic eye makeup often has a motif of characters or symbols, such as a butterfly, heart or rose. Needless to say, it is often difficult for non-artistic people to apply this type of eye makeup. Artistic eye makeup requires a special technique; therefore, we propose and implement a computer-aided eye makeup design system called "iMake." This system generates artistic eye makeup designs from the colors and shapes of a favorite character selected by a user. Once the user has selected the desired eye makeup pattern, an ink-jet color printer prints it on a transfer sheet that the user can apply to his/her eyelids. The user can design any type of eye makeup with a simple operation, and then apply the transfer sheet makeup without any special techniques. The usability evaluation provided by eight participants has shown that our system is sufficiently useful for practical eye makeup.

This paper describes the design of a digital fork and a mobile interactive and persuasive game for a young child who is a picky eater and/or easily distracted during mealtime. The system employs Ubicomp technology to educate children on the importance of a balanced diet while motivating proper eating behavior. To sense a child's eating behavior, we have designed and prototyped a sensor-embedded digital fork, called the Sensing Fork. Furthermore, we have developed a story-book and persuasive game, called the Hungry Panda, on a smartphone. This capitalizes on the capabilities of the Sensing Fork to interact with and modify children's eating behavior during mealtime. We report the results of a real-life study that involves mother-child subjects and tested the effectiveness of the Sensing Fork and Hungry Panda game in addressing children's eating problems. Our findings exhibit positive effects for changing children's eating behavior.

Users often have difficulty taking pictures of jewelry as it requires advanced photographic techniques. We propose a system called "JewelryStudio" that helps users easily capture pictures of jewelry from multiple angles, and upload them to an online database for various web-based uses. In this paper, we explain the concept, implementation, and evaluation of the JewelryStudio.

Flower arrangement is enjoyed all over the world as a way of gardening and in decoration of rooms. However, it is difficult to make arrangements as beautiful as possible for beginners. Some rules about layout and color combination of flower arrangement are required in order for beginners to beautifully arrange the flowers. Moreover, the process is sometimes unreversible; that is, if a user cuts a stem too short, it may irrevocably spoil the arrangement. To solve these problems, we propose a computer-supported flower arrangement simulator, "CADo", which helps beginners enjoy flower arrangements using familiar materials. The name CADo is a combination of Kado (the Japanese art of flower arrangement) and CAD (computer aided design). CADo helps users with arrangement suggestions based on traditional layout and color combination of flower arrangement, and instructs users on how to cut flowers and to arrange them step by step. First, we performed a feasibility study to implement the proper rules of flower arrangement to our system, after which the system was built and developed. Finally, we verified the effectiveness of our system through evaluative experiment.

Many people find that communication between men and women is difficult regardless of their efforts to understand their partners. Especially, negative feelings cause troubles on communication of couple members. In this paper, we proposed a novel communication support system for couples that helps couple members share their negative feelings and heal over them smoothly using a physical avatar.

We propose a novel search technique called IteMinder that helps users find property in a room using passive RFID and an autonomous robot. First, we attach RFID tags to the target items and at typical locations in a room. We also attach an RFID reader and a laser rangefinder to the robot. The robot can move around the entire room automatically while avoiding obstacles using the laser rangefinder. When the robot finds a tagged item, it uploads the tag ID and location information to the database. Users can then browse target items and their locations on a common web browser.

Although many women wear makeup every day, they often have difficulty in varying their makeup. In this paper, we propose "Smart Makeup System" that helps users find new makeup methods for use with their daily cosmetics by sharing makeup logs (makeup pictures and cosmetics usages) on the web.

We propose a novel search technique called DrawerFinder that helps users find commodities stored in two types of storage boxes (with drawers or lids) on a shelf. First, we attach visual markers inside these storage boxes. When a user opens a box, a camera attached above the shelf detects the visual marker and the system automatically takes a picture. Next, the picture is automatically uploaded to an online database tagged with the box ID. Users can then browse these pictures using a PC or cellular phone equipped with a common web browser. We believe our system helps users find items in boxes efficiently as they can browse both pictures of boxes and the surrounding environment (e.g., who last opened the storage box) quickly.

We propose a flowerpot-type robot called PotPet that helps users grow plants more effectively and enjoyably. PotPet acts autonomously like pets: it automatically moves to sunny places or approaches people when it requires water. Basically, PotPet consists of a "real" plant, several sensors to detect plant status, a robot with wheels for mobility, and a microcontroller to control the above devices. Here we explain the concepts and implementation of the PotPet.

For some people, selecting the clothes you wear is sometimes tedious, difficult and requires you to remember what you have previously worn. While there are many fashion SNS (Social Networking Services) sites and related research devoted to addressing certain aspects of this issue, there is no system that combines both the automated cataloguing of one's own clothes with near real-time recommendation by their social network. In this paper, we propose a novel system which allows users to easily organize and optimize their daily clothing selection based on historical data. By combining historical information about what the user has worn with several options such as the user's planned activities and the weather, it can help the user in coordinating what to wear. In order to simplify and automate the capture, storage and cataloging of image of the users clothing, we propose a system which allows for the automatic and standardized capturing of a person's clothes by simply hanging an item on a hook built into a cabinet. Furthermore, by utilizing the internet and common SNS sites, it allows friends, family living apart and/or romantic couples to seamlessly share the catalogued photos of their clothes, initiate conversation and help select what is appropriate to wear.

To supplement existing forms of communication such as telephone and e-mail, this research proposes a new method of communicating "awareness" between people who are separated by long distances. In this paper, we investigate cases where coincidences in daily activities lead to casual conversation and thus intimacy and togetherness. We propose a new method of communicating these "happy coincidences" between a pair of remotely located locations. By equipping furniture and appliances such as doors, sofas, refrigerators and televisions with sensors, we developed a system wherein these items are connected to remote equivalents and their near simultaneous use is communicated. We conducted a two month field test of the system in a laboratory setting and a three month field test in an actual home. The study showed that the participant felt the presence of other people and thought about, imagined or even confirmed the habits of others by intentionally triggering the coincidence notification.

Despite the fact that various means of communication such as mobile phones, instant messenger and e-mail are now widespread; many romantic couples separated by long distances worry about the health of their relationships. Likewise, these couples have a greater desire to feel a sense of connection and synchronicity with their partners than traditional inter-family bonds. In many prior research projects, unique devices were developed that required a level of interpretation which did not directly affect one's daily routine - and therefore were more casual in nature. However, this paper concentrates on the use of common, day-to-day items and modifying them to communicate everyday actions while maintaining a sustained and natural usage pattern for strongly paired romantic couples. For this purpose, we propose the "SyncDecor" system, which pairs traditional appliances and allow them to remotely synchronize and provide awareness or cognizance about their partners - thereby creating a virtual "living together" feeling. We present evidence, from a 3-month long field study, where traditional appliances provided a significantly more natural, varied and sustained usage patterns which ultimately enhanced communications between the couples.

Conventional scrolling methods for small sized display in PDAs or mobile phones are difficult to use when frequent switching of scrolling and editing operations are required, for example, browsing and operating large sized WWW pages.In this paper, we propose a new user-interface method to provide seamless switching between scrolling and other operations such as editing, based on "Paperweight Metaphor". A sheet of paper that has been placed on a slippery table is difficult to draw on. Therefore, in order to write or draw something on the sheet of paper, a person must secure the paper with his/her palm to avoid the paper from moving. This will be a good metaphor to design switching operation of scroll and editing modes.We have made prototype systems by placing a touch sensor under each PDA display where user's palm will be hit. Three application programs - map browser, WWW browser, and photograph browser - that switch between scrolling and other operation modes depending on sensor output have been developed. We have carried out user tests on this mode switching method and have received favorable feedback on the same.

We introduce an inexpensive position input device called the FieldMouse, with which a computer can tell the position of the device on paper or any flat surface without using special input tablets or position detection devices. A FieldMouse is a combination of an ID recognizer like a barcode reader and a mouse which detects relative movement of the device. Using a FieldMouse, a user first detects an ID on paper by using the barcode reader, and then drags it from the ID using the mouse. If the location of the ID is known, the location of the dragged FieldMouse can also be calculated by adding the amount of movement from the ID to the position of the FieldMouse. Using a FieldMouse in this way, any flat surface can work as a pointing device that supports absolute position input, just by putting an ID tag somewhere on the surface. A FieldMouse can also be used for enabling a graphical user interface (GUI) on paper or on any flat surface by analyzing the direction and the amount of mouse movement after detecting an ID. In this paper, we introduce how a FieldMouse can be used in various situations to enable computing in real-world environments.