Publications
Videos
Overview
We have continually evolved computing to not only be more efficient, but also more accessible, more of the time (and place), and to more people. We have progressed from batch computing with punch cards, to interactive command line systems, to mouse-based graphical user interfaces, and more recently to mobile computing. Each of these paradigm shifts has drastically changed the way we use technology for work and life, often in unpredictable and profound ways.
With the latest move to mobile computing, we now carry devices with significant computational power and capabilities on our bodies. However, their small size typically leads to limited interaction space (diminutive screens, buttons, and jog wheels) and consequently diminishes their usability and functionality. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for developing interaction modalities that will open the door for novel uses of computing.
Our work addresses these challenges by appropriating both the human body and the surrounding environment as interaction canvases. We achieve this by leveraging sensors used in medical contexts, and by applying signal processing and machine learning techniques that extract data about gesture and human behavior from those sensors.
Projects
Video
Press
2012
Control your laptop with a wave of your hand
CNN Money, 7 August 2012
Next Up in Kinect-Style Motion Sensing: Ultrasound?
Popular Mechanics, 25 May 2012
Microsoft Turns Jazz Hands Into Gesture Commands Using Sound Waves
IT World, 10 May 2012
Microsoft Research Projects Offer New Takes on Gesture Sensing
IDG News Service, 9 May 2012
Beyond Kinect: Gestural Computer Spells Keyboard Death
New Scientist, 9 May 2012
Gesture Sensing Alternatives Use Radio Interference, Doppler Effect
PC World, 9 May 2012
Laptop Uses Sound for Gesture Control
Discovery News, 9 May 2012
Cool Microsoft Research Takes Kinect To Another Level
PC Magazine, 7 May 2012
Gesture Control System Uses Sound Alone
Technology Review, 7 May 2012
Here’s Looking at You (but I’m Still Texting)
New York Times, 11 Feb 2012
Technology Review, 1 Jan 2012
10 Tech Research Projects to Watch (featuring PocketTouch)
PC World, 3 Jan 2012
2011
How to Make a Human Antenna (at ABC News) (at MSNBC)
Discovery News, 12 May 2011
Turn your entire home into a game controller
New Scientist, 10 May 2011
Technology Review, 3 May 2011
2010
Microsoft’s Skinput turns hands, arms into buttons
CNN, 19 April 2010
Skinput Makes the Entire Body a Touch Interface
PC World, 13 April 2010
Sensors turn skin into gadget control pad
BBC News, 26 March 2010
Body acoustics can turn your arm into a touchscreen
New Scientist, 1 March 2010
‘Skinput’ Turns Your Body Into Touchscreen Interface
TechNews, 3 March 2010
Skinput Turns Any Bodily Surface Into a Touch Interface
Popular Science (popsci.com), 3 March 2010
Skinput Turns Your Arm into a Touch-Screen
Wired, 3 March 2010
2009
Muscle-Based PC Interface Lets You Literally Point and Click, No Mouse Required
Popular Science (popsci.com), 29 October 2009
Muscle-Bound Computer Interface
MIT Technology Review, 28 October 2009
The Quest for a Better Keyboard
Forbes Magazine, September 2009
2008
High-tech Armband Puts your Fingers in Control
The New Scientist, 24 April 2008