A pointing method using two accelerometers for wearable computing

ABSTRACT

A variety of real-world situations are beneficial for wearable computing since it provides information services while users are doing other jobs. Therefore, a simple and hands-free input interfaces have suitable for these computer operations. However, such interface has not been achieved with conventional input devices such as mice or track balls. Although gesture or eye-gaze input techniques have also been developed for wearable computing, they also suffer from problems i.e., a slow pointing speed, difficulty in carrying devices, and complexity in parallel use when doing tasks. We propose a new method of pointing using input of simple gestures with two accelerometers. By dividing the specifications of two coordinates into a combination of two independent motions, we accomplish accurate and intuitive pointing. A user attaches two small accelerometers to both his/her hands or both elbows. The pointing is done by using the intersection of two straight lines, and the movement of the lines is synchronized with that of the accelerometers. In addition, we also propose a method of changing the position of objects being pointed at that is new approach. The results we obtained from our evaluation experiments confirmed that our method was effective.

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