With the increasing adoption of smart glasses, there is a growing need for efficient and precise input techniques in augmented reality (AR) environments. Current input options, like smartphones and hand-tracking, have limitations, such as requiring external devices to be picked up or needing sufficient space in front of the user. We propose an inner wrist-worn device with a trackball that allows users to operate it by sliding their wrist against their body. This technique provides precise, long-range pointing without extensive motion space and enables continuous interaction. Experiments show that this technique achieves reliable pointing performance regardless of user posture or sliding area. Potential applications we developed include shooting games, gesture control, and smartwatch input, demonstrating its effectiveness for compact and precise interactions in AR/VR environment and daily use.

Smart glasses provide a large-screen viewing experience and integrate well into daily life, making them suitable for mobile computing. However, current input methods have limitations for standalone use. To address this, we proposed incorporating eight wheels into the glasses’ temples, which can be controlled by rotating and pressing with non-thumb fingers. Our two user experiments evaluated the technique for ease of operation and text input speed, achieving 9.78 words per minute (WPM). The developed applications include multi-monitor text input, rhythm games, and pixel art creation, designed to showcase the technique and facilitate the transition to extended reality (XR) while retaining the portability of smart glasses.

The Head Mounted Keyboard (HMK) is a text input method that attaches a physical split keyboard to the head mounted display (HMD). It allows high-speed text input by utilizing the touch-typing skills that many PC users have. However, numeric input with HMK is challenging because the user cannot see the keyboard. Our solution is a hybrid technique that combines HMK with head pointing. The technique, inputs letters via the HMK while numeric input uses head pointing to a virtual keyboard. In an experiment on typing tasks, the proposed technique outperforms the conventional alternatives. Some application examples were implemented to explore the application space of the technique.

Smartphones have limited input vocabularies compared with PCs. In this paper, we propose a method for estimating the stylus angle of a passive brush from capacitive images. The technique allows us to expand the input vocabulary without complicating the smartphone or the stylus. We conducted experiments that showed the estimation error (MAE) was 6.63° for pitch and 5.97° for roll. Two applications were implemented to show the feasibility of the technique.

We present ZeRONE, a new indoor drone that does not use rotating blades for propulsion. The proposed device is a helium blimp type drone that uses the wind generated by the ultrasonic vibration of piezo elements for propulsion. Compared to normal drones with rotating propellers, the drone is much safer because its only moving parts are the piezo elements whose surfaces vibrate at the order of micrometers. The drone can float for a few weeks and the ultrasonic propulsion system is quiet. We implement a prototype of the drone and evaluate its performance and unique characteristics in experiments. Moreover, application scenarios in which ZeRONE coexists with people are also discussed.

We propose ShearSheet, a low-cost, feasible, and simple DIY method that enables tangential (shear) force input on a touchscreen using a rubber-mounted slim transparent sheet. The sheet has tiny conductive material(s) attached to specific positions on the underside so that displacement of the sheet is recognized as touch input(s). This allows the system to distinguish between normal touch input and shear force input depending on whether the sheet moves or not, without requiring any external sensors or power. We first introduce ShearSheet's simple implementation for a smartphone and then discuss several promising interaction techniques that augment shear interaction with one- and two-finger operations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of ShearSheet's smooth transition between position- and rate-based control through a controlled user study using simple scrolling tasks. The results confirm that ShearSheet offers improved performance such as fewer operations and higher subjective preference, suggesting its substantial benefits and potential applications.

We present CamTrackPoint, a new input interface that can be controlled by finger gestures captured by front or rear cameras of a mobile device. CamTrackPoint mounts a 3D-printed ring on the camera's bezel, and it senses the movements of the user's finger by tracking the light passed through the finger. The proposed method provides mobile devices with a new input interface that offers physical force feedback like a pointing stick. The cost of our method is low as it needs only a simple ring-shaped part on the camera bezel. Moreover, the ring doesn't disturb the functions of the camera, unless a user uses the interface. We implement a prototype for a smartphone; two CamTrackPoint rings are made for the front and rear cameras. We evaluate its performance and characteristics in an experiment. The proposed technique provides smooth scrolling and would give better game experience on the available smartphone.

Touch sensing with multiple electrodes allows expressive touch interactions. The adaptability and flexibility of the sensor are important in efficiently prototyping touch based systems. The proposed technique uses capacitive touch sensing and simplifies the connections as the electrodes are connected in series via capacitors and the interface circuit is connected to the electrode array by just two wires. The touched electrode is recognized by measuring the capacitance changes while switching the polarity of the signal. We show that the technique is capable of detecting different touches through simulations and actual measurements. User tests show that ten electrodes are successfully recognized after user calibration. They also show the proposal's other novel capabilities of multi-touch (2-touch) and `capacitor-free' design. Various forms of electrodes and applications are examined to elucidate the application range.

We present iSphere, a flying spherical display that can display high resolution and bright images in all directions from anywhere in 3D space. Our goal is to build a new platform which can physically and directly emerge arbitrary bodies in the real world. iSphere flies by itself using a built-in drone and creates a spherical display by rotating arcuate multi light-emitting diode (LED) tapes around the drone. As a result of the persistence of human vision, we see it as a spherical display flying in the sky. The proposed method yields large display surfaces, high resolution, drone mobility, high visibility and 360° field of view. Previous approaches fail to match these characteristics, because of problems with aerodynamics and payload. We construct a prototype and validate the proposed method. The unique characteristics and benefits of flying spherical display surfaces are discussed and we describe application scenarios based on iSphere such as guidance, signage and telepresence.

Eye tracking techniques have moved from the laboratory into everyday life; examples include input interfaces for the severely handicapped and object-of-interest selection in the camera finder. They will bring great benefits when they can be used easily in everyday life. However, the current major tracking devices are not accepted widely because they set cameras in front of the user's face which plays several extremely important roles in everyday life. Desktop devices or special personal devices can be used but they impose their own limitations.

A tag system is proposed that offers a practical approach to ubiquitous computing. It provides small and low-power tags that are easy to distribute; does not need a special device to read the tags (in the future), thus enabling their use anytime, anywhere; and has a wide reading range in angle and distance that extends the design space of tag-based applications. The tag consists of a kind of liquid crystal (LC) and a retroreflector, and it sends its ID by switching the LC. A depth sensing camera that emits infrared (IR) is used as the tag reader; we assume that it will be part of the user's everyday devices, such as a smartphone. Experiments were conducted to confirm its potential, and a regular IR camera was also tested for comparison. The results show that the tag system has a wide readable range in terms of both distance (up to 8m) and viewing angle offset. Several applications were also developed to explore the design space. Finally, limitations of the current setup and possible improvements are discussed.

A tap control technique for headphones is proposed. A simple circuit is used to detect tapping of the headphone shell by using the speaker unit in the headphone as a tap sensor. No additional devices are required in the headphone shell and cable, so the user can use their favorite headphones as a controller while listening music. A prototype is implemented with several calibration processes to compensate the differences in headphones and users' tapping actions. Tests confirm that the user can control a music player by tapping regular headphones.

An indicator with switchable faces that suits the cellular phone keypad is proposed and implemented. The prototype, which can show 3 patterns, consists of notch filters (each of which yields a different pattern) and light sources. Each pattern, which emits in a different color, can be activated simply by switching the same color of the illuminating light. Since the patterns do not disturb each other, large characters can be covered on the whole keytop. This indicator is also suitable for handheld/portable devices, such as PDA or notebook PC.