SideBySide Project.

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SideBySide is a novel interactive system that allows multiple people to play and work together using handheld projectors at anytime and anyplace. SideBySide continues our  investigation of  mobile projectors as a new interactive medium that we started with MotionBeam project.

The use of SideBySide  is immediate and simple: users project onto a surface and their projection becomes aware and responsive to other projections nearby. Interaction can range from projector-based games, such as boxing with projected characters, to everyday tasks such as exchanging contact information by “dragging and dropping” onto another user’s projection.

Importantly, SideBySide does not require any fixed sensing in the environment and can be used anywhere: at home, at the office, or even inside the car during long road trips. The system consists of a hybrid mobile projector that outputs both visible and invisible projections at the same time. The invisible projection contains tracking data that can be recognized by the device camera, allowing accurate location tracking of multiple projections and lightweight communication between devices.

SideBySide was developed by Karl Willis, myself, Scott Hudson and Mo Mahler ad Disney Research, Pittsburgh. See Disney Research and my personal web sites for more information.

Surround Haptics project.

Surround Haptics is a new tactile technology that uses a low-resolution grid of vibrating actuators to create high-resolution, continuous moving tactile strokes on human skin. The user would not feel the discrete buzzes that are common today, but rather a smooth tactile motion, akin to what we feel when someone drags a finger across our skin.

Our technology is based on modeling and controlling tactile illusions, which allow to create virtual, phantom tactile actuators and movements anywhere on an actuator grid. With that, complex tactile trajectories can be created using just a few actuators. Their speed, direction, length, and intensity can be effectively controlled. We called the algorithm implementing such tactile drawing a Tactile Brush.

There are many applications of Surround Haptics. Imagine a chair that makes you feel bugs crawling on your back as you watch a movie. A motorcycle jacket that lets you feel the traffic around you. A game controller that lets you feel forces as you are cutting objects with a virtual sword. There are endless possibilities.

The Surround Haptics technology was developed by Ali Israr and myself in the Interaction Group at Disney Research Pittsburgh. A paper describing Tactile Brush algorythm was presented at the ACM CHI 2011 conference.

See Surround Haptics web site for details on technology, videos and images.

MotionBeam project.

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The MotionBeam project explores interaction with virtual projected characters. It was created in Interaction Group in Disney Research, Pittsburgh.

We instrumented a small handheld projector with motion sensors and developed a range of interaction principles that allow users to control virtual projected characters by gesturing with the projection device. To guide the design of these principles we have drawn from techniques used by artists in 2D animation and comic art, such as shown below. We then developed a number of projection games, such as racing and treasure hunt, that demonstrated feasibility of these techniques.

In the future we see MotionBeam as a key component in the new ‘game projector’ platforms, where the real world becomes a playground and users interact directly with each other and the environment using small yet powerful mobile devices with embedded pico projectors.

MotionBeam was developed at Disney Research Pittsburgh by Karl Willis, Takaaki Shiratori and myself. A full paper on this project was presented at the ACM CHI 2011 conference. Here you can download both paper and video describing MotionBeam design and applications.

TeslaTouch tactile texture display.

TeslaTouch is a new tactile interface technology that infuses finger-driven interfaces with physical, tactile feedback. It is based on the electrovibration principle, which can programmatically vary the friction between fingers and a touch panel. As the result, TeslaTouch requires no moving parts, unlike most of the existing tactile feedback technologies, which use vibration motors or some other mechanical devices.

When combined with an interactive graphical display, TeslaTouch enables the design of a wide variety of touch interfaces that allow the user to feel virtual elements and their properties through touch. For example, when dragging a file, the level of friction could convey the file size. Various textures and materials could be explored with fingers. Objects could be felt “snapping” into place or perhaps with a quick “rub” of email application’s icon, you could sense how many emails are unread. Finally, imagine a flat touch keyboard where the virtual keys can be felt.

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TeslaTouch was developed at Disney Research Pittsburgh by Olivier Bau, Ali Israr, Chris Harrison and myself. The industrial design of TeslaTouch handheld prototype was done in collaboration with Mark Baskinger, CMU School of Design.

The web site with more materials on TeslaTouch technology can be found here.

Silicon-based interfaces.

Recently I have been interested in interfaces that explore the use of silicon and its properties to achieve new and interesting interaction effects and applications. These are some that I was able to find so far.

1. Gel Sight by Micah Kimo Johnson which was shown at Emerging Technologies exhibition at Siggraph 2009 (thanks Ronit).

2. PhotoelasticTouch by the team from University of Electrocommunication was also shown at Emerging Technology exhibition at Siggraph 2009 (thanks Chris).

I am sure there is more and I would appreciate any additional pointers.

12 Pixels Color is released in Japan!

A new version of 12Pixels has  been released in Japan by Sony Marketing on Sony web site. This new version, named 12Pixels Color,  incorporated a lot of changes and improvements that resulted from observing how people were using the first version. Some of these improvements include: allowing to draw with color (obviously, hence the name!), simplifying interface for drawing emoticons, improving help and adding a lot of traditional social web features, such as ranking and commenting.

This release has been done in collaboration with Sony artist, musician and TV personality Neeko (ニーコ) who provided her original content and encouraged people to re-mix it and post on 12Pixels web site. She visited us in Sony CSL the other day.

12Pixels stays free and the goal of the project stays the same: to explore how people can be creative with traditional mobile phones. For more information please check links below:

• 12Pixels Color is here;
• Neeko 12Pixels page with her profile and drawings is here;
• Research page that explains what 12Pixels is all about is here.

12Pixels is released by SonyStyle.

12Pixels, which is one of my research projects, has been released by Sony Style Japan as mobile phone service. It can be accessed  here.

What is 12Pixels? 12Pixels is an interface, mobile phone application, and web service that allows people to draw and share images using only the keys of a standard mobile phone. In Sony Style release the images drawn by the users can be saved on the mobile phone, used as a wall papers, converted into custom emoticons and even sent to partner company to be made into crystal stone fashion accessories. Sony Style is not allowed to write it, but it uses Swarovski lime stones.

This release also includes some of the the sample content drawn with 12Pixels application  by one of my favorite design collective Dai Nippon Type.

• SonyStyle 12Pixels service can be accessed here.
• SonyStyle press release (in Japanese) can be accessed here.
• The real-time gallery of drawings created by the 12Pixels users is here.
• The original 12Pixel project page is here.
• My personal research page on 12Pixels is here.
• The QR code for downloading 12Pixels is below:

And these are some of the drawings made using 12Pixels:

RAND corporation.

Well informed sources told me that the name of infamous RAND Corporation stands for “Research And No Develolpment”. Do not know if its true.