Yuji Kokumai

Toward a Compact Device to Interact with a Capacitive Touch Screen

Capacitive touch screens are widely used in various products. Touch screens have an advantage that an input system and output system can be integrated into a single module. We consider this advantage could make it possible to realize a new universal interface for both human-to-machine (H2M) and machine-to-machine (M2M). For a M2M interface, some sort of method to simulate finger touching is needed. Therefore, we propose an alternative method to interact with a touch screen using two electrical approaches. Our proposal is effective in automating touch screen operations, modality conversion device for people with disabilities, and so on. We assembled a prototype to confirm the principle to control a touch screen with the electrical methods. We believe that our proposal will complement the weakness of touch screens and expand their possibility.

Sushi Train Interface: Passive and Interactive Information Sharing

We proposed sushi train interface as a novel information sharing method to have users notice everyday information in a natural manner. In the interface, information rails are projected on ceilings or walls, and information dishes go around on the rails. Users interact with the information rails using remote pointing devices. We constructed a prototype as a proof-of-concept and implemented pointing methods by a camera device and a smart laser pointer. The both methods are expected to be used for interacting information rails.

Tangible Microscope with Intuitive Stage Control Interface

Control interfaces of microscope stage have been conservative because they historically precede compact mechanisms which can be used in dark rooms with the sense of fingertips. However, there is a trend of expanding frontier in microscope interaction. New kinds of interactions for microscope are proposed and the freedom of stage control increases by hexapod micropositioning. We propose a tangible microscope which has an intuitive stage control interface. The interface combines a tablet device and a hexapod stage. Because a stage is a plane, we virtually assume a stage is on one’s palm. It is very intuitive that the stage moves in the same manner of palm’s move. As a proof-of-concept, we constructed a prototype by regarding a tablet as a palm. We haven’t any quantitative evaluation yet, but it is expected that the concept of tangible microscope brings a new sense of stage control to users.

Wide area interaction using telephoto imaging

Conventional interaction researches deal with relatively small spaces with physical proximity or completely distant spaces without physical proximity. However, there is an intermediate range of them. The distance to a target for interaction is longer than physical proximity but the target can be seen in a view. Such situations occur in sport stadiums, construction sites, cities, and so on. We call interaction in such a range as wide area interaction. As for wide area interaction, there are some researches on the infrastructure aspect [Blackstock et al. 2006], but there are few on the practical interaction method. Our approach is to utilize telephoto lens. With telephoto lens, a user can address a distant object and point the exact coordinate on the surface of the object from a distant place.