A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device

Jonathan David Hook; Stuart Taylor; Alex Butler; Nicolas Villar; Shahram Izadi

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1622176.1622186

A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device

Jonathan David Hook, Stuart Taylor, Alex Butler, Nicolas Villar, Shahram Izadi

Theatre, Film, TV and Interactive Media

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

We present a novel hardware device based on ferromagnetic sensing, capable of detecting the presence, position and deformation of any ferrous object placed on or near its surface. These objects can include ball bearings, magnets, iron filings, and soft malleable bladders filled with ferrofluid. Our technology can be used to build reconfigurable input devices -- where the physical form of the input device can be assembled using combinations of such ferrous objects. This allows users to rapidly construct new forms of input device, such as a trackball-style device based on a single large ball bearing, tangible mixers based on a collection of sliders and buttons with ferrous components, and multi-touch malleable surfaces using a ferrofluid bladder. We discuss the implementation of our technology, its strengths and limitations, and potential application scenarios.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Publisher	ACM
Pages	51-54
ISBN (Print)	978-1-60558-745-5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/1622176.1622186
Publication status	Published - 2009
Event	22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology - Victoria, Canada Duration: 4 Oct 2009 → 7 Oct 2009

Conference

Conference	22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Victoria
Period	4/10/09 → 7/10/09

Access to Document

http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1622176.1622186

Cite this

@inproceedings{307a9f5c40a2463691412f77c5aa2579,

title = "A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device",

abstract = "We present a novel hardware device based on ferromagnetic sensing, capable of detecting the presence, position and deformation of any ferrous object placed on or near its surface. These objects can include ball bearings, magnets, iron filings, and soft malleable bladders filled with ferrofluid. Our technology can be used to build reconfigurable input devices -- where the physical form of the input device can be assembled using combinations of such ferrous objects. This allows users to rapidly construct new forms of input device, such as a trackball-style device based on a single large ball bearing, tangible mixers based on a collection of sliders and buttons with ferrous components, and multi-touch malleable surfaces using a ferrofluid bladder. We discuss the implementation of our technology, its strengths and limitations, and potential application scenarios.",

author = "Hook, {Jonathan David} and Stuart Taylor and Alex Butler and Nicolas Villar and Shahram Izadi",

year = "2009",

doi = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1622176.1622186",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-1-60558-745-5",

pages = "51--54",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology",

publisher = "ACM",

address = "United States",

note = "22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology ; Conference date: 04-10-2009 Through 07-10-2009",

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TY - GEN

T1 - A Reconfigurable Ferromagnetic Input Device

AU - Hook, Jonathan David

AU - Taylor, Stuart

AU - Butler, Alex

AU - Villar, Nicolas

AU - Izadi, Shahram

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - We present a novel hardware device based on ferromagnetic sensing, capable of detecting the presence, position and deformation of any ferrous object placed on or near its surface. These objects can include ball bearings, magnets, iron filings, and soft malleable bladders filled with ferrofluid. Our technology can be used to build reconfigurable input devices -- where the physical form of the input device can be assembled using combinations of such ferrous objects. This allows users to rapidly construct new forms of input device, such as a trackball-style device based on a single large ball bearing, tangible mixers based on a collection of sliders and buttons with ferrous components, and multi-touch malleable surfaces using a ferrofluid bladder. We discuss the implementation of our technology, its strengths and limitations, and potential application scenarios.

AB - We present a novel hardware device based on ferromagnetic sensing, capable of detecting the presence, position and deformation of any ferrous object placed on or near its surface. These objects can include ball bearings, magnets, iron filings, and soft malleable bladders filled with ferrofluid. Our technology can be used to build reconfigurable input devices -- where the physical form of the input device can be assembled using combinations of such ferrous objects. This allows users to rapidly construct new forms of input device, such as a trackball-style device based on a single large ball bearing, tangible mixers based on a collection of sliders and buttons with ferrous components, and multi-touch malleable surfaces using a ferrofluid bladder. We discuss the implementation of our technology, its strengths and limitations, and potential application scenarios.

U2 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1622176.1622186

DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1622176.1622186

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-1-60558-745-5

SP - 51

EP - 54

BT - Proceedings of the 22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology

PB - ACM

T2 - 22nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology

Y2 - 4 October 2009 through 7 October 2009

ER -