We introduce ChairMX, on-chair input technology for novel interactive media consumption experiences through the chair. ChairMX is the end result of an elaborate four-stage research and development process involving a systematic literature review of the extent in which chairs have been used in interactive systems, involvement of potential end users to elicit their preferences for on-chair input, engineering on-chair gesture input recognition technology with wearables, and exploration of application opportunities. By leveraging a ring-like form factor wearable, ChairMX is a readily deployable technology, working for uninstrumented chairs everywhere and enabling a variety of use case scenarios involving interactive media consumption, from the living room to public environments.

We show how two recently introduced visual tools, RepliGES and GEStory, can be used conjointly to inform possible replications of Gesture Elicitation Studies (GES) with a case study centered on gestures that can be sensed with radars. Starting from a GES identified in GEStory, we employ the dimensions of the RepliGES space to enumerate eight possible ways to replicate that study towards gaining new insights into end user’s preferences for gesture-based interaction for applications that use radar sensors.

We address gesture input for TV control, for which we examine mid-air free-hand interactions that can be detected via radar sensing. We adopt a scenario-based design approach to explore possible locations from the living room where to integrate radar sensors, e.g., in the TV set, the couch armrest, or the user’s smartphone, and we contribute a four-level taxonomy of locations relative to the TV set, the user, personal robot assistants, and the living room environment, respectively. We also present preliminary results about an interactive system using a 15-antenna ultra-wideband 3D radar, for which we implemented a dictionary of six directional swipe gestures for the control of dichotomous TV system functions.

We conduct a systematic literature review on wearable interactions for users with motor impairments and report results from a meta-analysis of 57 scientific articles identified in the ACM DL and IEEE Xplore databases. Our findings show limited research conducted on accessible wearable interactions (e.g., just four papers addressing smartwatch input), a disproportionate interest for hand gestures compared to other input modalities for wearable devices, and low numbers of participants with motor impairments involved in user studies about wearable interactions (a median of 6.0 and average of 8.2 participants per study). We compile an inventory of 92 finger, hand, head, shoulder, eye gaze, and foot gesture commands for smartwatches, smartglasses, headsets, earsets, fitness trackers, data gloves, and armband wearable devices extracted from the scientific literature that we surveyed. Based on our findings, we propose four directions for future research on accessible wearable interactions for users with motor impairments.

Personal drones are more and more present in our lives and acting as “flying cameras” is one of their most prominent applications. In this work, we conduct a synopsis of the scientific literature on human-drone interaction to identify system functions and corresponding commands for controlling drone-based aerial photography and video, from which we compile a dictionary of interactions. We also discuss opportunities for more research at the intersection of drone computing, augmented vision, and personal photography.