Gauntlet: a wearable interface for ubiquitous gaming

ABSTRACT

In this paper we present a wearable user interface for ubiquitous gaming activities, discussing the design choices that led to the implementation of a first, fully functional prototype. The Gauntlet takes the form of an unobtrusive arm piece that allows gestures and manipulation of real objects to be included as game-play elements. When paired to a mobile device it can be used ubiquitously, without need of a location-dependent hardware framework. Public demonstration of the prototype by means of an interactive installation has allowed us to conduct observations of its usage and achieve preliminary conclusions on our approach.

REFERENCES

• 1: Steve Benford , Carsten Magerkurth , Peter Ljungstrand, Bridging the physical and digital in pervasive gaming, Communications of the ACM, v.48 n.3, March 2005 [doi>10.1145/1047671.1047704]
• 2: Brunnberg, L., Juhlin, O. 2006. Keep your eyes on the road and your finger on the trigger - Designing for mixed focus of attention in a mobile game for brief encounters. In Proc. of the 4^th International Conference on Pervasive Computing (Pervasive 2006). Dublin, Ireland.
• 3: Nuno Correia , Luís Alves , Helder Correia , Luis Romero , Carmen Morgado , Luís Soares , José C. Cunha , Teresa Romão , A. Eduardo Dias , Joaquim A. Jorge, InStory: a system for mobile information access, storytelling and gaming activities in physical spaces, Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in computer entertainment technology, p.102-109, June 15-17, 2005, Valencia, Spain [doi>10.1145/1178477.1178491]
• 4: Martin Flintham , Steve Benford , Rob Anastasi , Terry Hemmings , Andy Crabtree , Chris Greenhalgh , Nick Tandavanitj , Matt Adams , Ju Row-Farr, Where on-line meets on the streets: experiences with mobile mixed reality games, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, April 05-10, 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA [doi>10.1145/642611.642710]
• 5: F. Gemperle , C. Kasabach , J. Stivoric , M. Bauer , R. Martin, Design for Wearability, Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers, p.116, October 19-20, 1998
• 6: Kratz, S, Ballagas, R. 2007. Gesture Recognition Using Motion Estimation on Mobile Phones. In Proc. of 3rd International Workshop on Pervasive Mobile Interaction Devices (PERMID '07). Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 7: Irma Lindt , Jan Ohlenburg , Uta Pankoke-Babatz , Wolfgang Prinz , Sabiha Ghellal, Combining multiple gaming interfaces in epidemic menace, CHI '06 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, April 22-27, 2006, Montréal, Québec, Canada [doi>10.1145/1125451.1125496]
• 8: Magerkurth, C., Engelke, T., Stikic, M. 2006. Gesture Based Interaction Techniques in Hybrid Environments. In Proc. of the 1^st International Conference on Digital Interactive Media Entertainment & Arts (DIME2006). Bangkok, Thailand.
• 9: Elise van den Hoven , Ali Mazalek, Tangible play: research and design for tangible and tabletop games, Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Intelligent user interfaces, January 28-31, 2007, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA [doi>10.1145/1216295.1216300]
• 10: Omer Rashid , Will Bamford , Paul Coulton , Reuben Edwards , Jurgen Scheible, PAC-LAN: mixed-reality gaming with RFID-enabled mobile phones, Computers in Entertainment (CIE), v.4 n.4, October-December 2006 [doi>10.1145/1178418.1178425]
• 11: Michele Sama , Vincenzo Pacella , Elisabetta Farella , Luca Benini , Bruno Riccó, 3dID: a low-power, low-cost hand motion capture device, Proceedings of the conference on Design, automation and test in Europe: Designers' forum, March 06-10, 2006, Munich, Germany
• 12: Stenros, J. et al. 2007. Play it for Real: Sustained Seamless Life/Game Merger in Momentum. In Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association International Conference 2007 (DiGRA 2007). Tokyo, Japan.
• 13: David J. Sturman , David Zeltzer, A Survey of Glove-based Input, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, v.14 n.1, p.30-39, January 1994 [doi>10.1109/38.250916]
• 14: Wang, S. et al. 2007. Common Sense Based Joint Training of Human Activity Recognizers. In Proc. Of the 20^th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI'07). Hyderabad, India.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors

Keywords:
RFID, human-computer interaction, pervasive games, ubiquitous computing, wearable computers