Magic Operation

Title：Magic Operation

Displayed Name：UinProducts

Magic Operation

Concept / Overview
There are so many state-of-the-art devices emerging nowadays, such as a gesture input devices that look like the come from an SF movie. It's so cool. But don't your your arms get stiff once you wear it for a while? Are you willing to make a trade off between wearing cool stuff and training your muscles. We propose "Magic Operation", a ring that can easily control the latest gadgets. Using sensor values inside the ring and machine-learning technology, you can use your thumb like a cross button. All you need to do is move your thumb. You never get tired at all.

Concept / Overview

There are so many state-of-the-art devices emerging nowadays, such as a gesture input devices that look like the come from an SF movie. It's so cool.
But don't your your arms get stiff once you wear it for a while? Are you willing to make a trade off between wearing cool stuff and training your muscles.
We propose "Magic Operation", a ring that can easily control the latest gadgets.
Using sensor values inside the ring and machine-learning technology, you can use your thumb like a cross button. All you need to do is move your thumb. You never get tired at all.

Idea

Idea contents and issues
This ring is a controller that allows the user to perform aerial operations like magic in sync with the latest devices, such as smartphone and Hololens.

Since smartphones have become so sophisticated, you can now use new applications such as AR/VR on smartphones. An example of an AR application is Apple's ARKit and Niantic's Pokemon Go. VR applications include "Hacosco" and Google's Google cardboard and Daydream View. I am sure you remember these cool innovations created a big sensation across the world recently.

However, most controllers controlling AR/VR applications are still touch panels, often used in commodity applications. The touch panel allows input only on a flat plane, which is a very restricted input method for AR and VR user experiences.

Magic Operation is a dedicated sensor ring that detects the electric field around the thumb, and recognizes various gestures of the thumb without holding anything to the hand. This enables use of new AR/VR applications which can't be controlled by the touch panel on smartphone.
For example when you use a VR application on your smartphone, you can view the VR image on the screen. But you can not touch the screen while you are viewing the screen, which limits the use view ing only. If you put Magic Operation on your thumb, the application can use the gesture input for operations such as 3D rotation and parallel movement.

This makes intuitive operation possible in creative activities such as immersive 3D CAD modeling and 3D painting with inexpensive smartphone VR.

Demo video

Source and Description

This prototype is a controller that enables three-dimensional input by applying a machine-learning method using the variation of the electric field generated when a conductor, like a finger, approaches the sensor as a feature quantity. We also make sensors which are considered upwardly compatible, as it allows the user to interact with the upper section of the touch panel as input space. Figure 1 is an image of smartphone VR as the main development target in this project. Although this figure uses a touch panel, this project presents a method of using 3DCAD, 3D painting, and new entertainment with an even wider range of inputs.

Figure 1. Using Smartphone VR (abstracted from Gugenhiemer's FaceTouch）

Technology used in gadget:

・Electric field sensing

・Machine learning (classification and regression)

・Products using virtual reality contents

・GR-KURUMI

・Smartphone

・Unity (electric field sensing)

UinProducts

GR Design Contest 2017 finalist