picoRing: battery-free rings for subtle thumb-to-index input

Fuente: arXiv
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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Takahashi, Ryo, Whitmire, Eric, Boldu, Roger, Ng, Shiu, Kienzle, Wolf, Benko, Hrvoje
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Takahashi, Ryo
Whitmire, Eric
Boldu, Roger
Ng, Shiu
Kienzle, Wolf
Benko, Hrvoje
author_facet Takahashi, Ryo
Whitmire, Eric
Boldu, Roger
Ng, Shiu
Kienzle, Wolf
Benko, Hrvoje
contents Smart rings for subtle, reliable finger input offer an attractive path for ubiquitous interaction with wearable computing platforms. However, compared to ordinary rings worn for cultural or fashion reasons, smart rings are much bulkier and less comfortable, largely due to the space required for a battery, which also limits the space available for sensors. This paper presents picoRing, a flexible sensing architecture that enables a variety of \textit{battery-free} smart rings paired with a wristband. By inductively connecting a wristband-based sensitive reader coil with a ring-based fully-passive sensor coil, picoRing enables the wristband to stably detect the passive response from the ring via a weak inductive coupling. We demonstrate four different rings that support thumb-to-finger interactions like pressing, sliding, or scrolling. When users perform these interactions, the corresponding ring converts each input into a unique passive response through a network of passive switches. Combining the coil-based sensitive readout with the fully-passive ring design enables a tiny ring that weighs as little as 1.5 g and achieves a 13 cm stable readout despite finger bending, and proximity to metal.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_13065
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle picoRing: battery-free rings for subtle thumb-to-index input
Takahashi, Ryo
Whitmire, Eric
Boldu, Roger
Ng, Shiu
Kienzle, Wolf
Benko, Hrvoje
Human-Computer Interaction
Smart rings for subtle, reliable finger input offer an attractive path for ubiquitous interaction with wearable computing platforms. However, compared to ordinary rings worn for cultural or fashion reasons, smart rings are much bulkier and less comfortable, largely due to the space required for a battery, which also limits the space available for sensors. This paper presents picoRing, a flexible sensing architecture that enables a variety of \textit{battery-free} smart rings paired with a wristband. By inductively connecting a wristband-based sensitive reader coil with a ring-based fully-passive sensor coil, picoRing enables the wristband to stably detect the passive response from the ring via a weak inductive coupling. We demonstrate four different rings that support thumb-to-finger interactions like pressing, sliding, or scrolling. When users perform these interactions, the corresponding ring converts each input into a unique passive response through a network of passive switches. Combining the coil-based sensitive readout with the fully-passive ring design enables a tiny ring that weighs as little as 1.5 g and achieves a 13 cm stable readout despite finger bending, and proximity to metal.
title picoRing: battery-free rings for subtle thumb-to-index input
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.13065