Beyond visual and auditory displays, tactile displays and grounded force feedback devices have become more common. Other sensory modalities are also catered to by a broad range of display devices, including temperature, taste, and olfaction. However, one sensory modality remains challenging to represent: kinesthesia – the sense of movement. Inspired by grain-based compliance illusions, we investigate how vibrotactile cues can evoke kinesthetic experiences, even when no movement is performed. We examine the effects of vibrotactile mappings and granularity on the magnitude of perceived motion; distance-based mappings provided the greatest sense of movement. Using an implementation that combines visual feedback and our prototype kinesthetic display, we demonstrate that action-coupled vibrotactile cues are significantly better at conveying an embodied sense of movement than the corresponding visual stimulus, and that combining vibrotactile and visual feedback is best. These results point towards a future where kinesthetic displays will be used in rehabilitation, sports, virtual-reality and beyond.

Surface I/O is a novel interface approach that functionalizes the exterior surface of devices to provide haptic and touch sensing without dedicated mechanical components. Achieving this requires a unique combination of surface features spanning the macro-scale (5cm ∼ 1mm), meso-scale (1mm ∼ 200μm), and micro-scale (<200μm). This approach simplifies interface creation, allowing designers to iterate on form geometry, haptic feeling, and sensing functionality without the limitations of mechanical mechanisms. We believe this can contribute to the concept of "invisible ubiquitous interactivity at scale", where the simplicity and easy implementation of the technique allows it to blend with objects around us. While we prototyped our designs using 3D printers and laser cutters, our technique is applicable to mass production methods, including injection molding and stamping, enabling passive goods with new levels of interactivity.

While the majority of pneumatic interfaces are powered and controlled by traditional electric pumps and valves, alternative sustainable energy-harnessing technology has been attracting attention. This paper presents a novel solution to this challenge with the development of the Sustainflatable system, a self-sustaining pneumatic system that can harvest renewable energy sources such as wind, water flow, moisture, and sunlight, convert the energy into compressed air, and store it for later use in a programmable and intelligent way. The system is completely electronic-free, incorporating customized energy harvesting pumps, storage units with variable volume-pressure characteristics, and tailored valves that operate autonomously. Additionally, the paper provides a design tool to guide the development of the system and includes several environmental applications to showcase its capabilities.