COMTOUCH

Copyright © 2002 Angela Chang. All rights reserved.








Image courtesy of Ian Gouldstone		 Just reach out and touch someone. Imagine being able to communicate without having to look at a small screen, fumble with small buttons, or hold a phone against your ear. Also, what if you could convey private information without letting other people know what you are saying? One day, we will be able to send touch in addition to voice and graphics.








Image courtesy of James Gouldstone		 ComTouch is a vibration sleeve that fits on the back of a mobile phone. The concept is to provide a way to represent the squeeze under each finger to a remote user. We chose vibration because it is a robust and feasible approach to conveying analog qualities. 
The device uses force sensing resistors to measure the pressure under each finger. The pressure is converted into vibration intensity by a custom circuit board. The vibration is caused by speakers tuned to 250Hz- the maximum sensitivity of the skin. 
Some Prototypes that were generated in the course of the design
A flat pad using one finger of touch-to-vibration allowed us to test whether the new interaction would work. A squeezable foam piece using headphone speakers allowed us to test whether we could distinguish signals on different fingers. A flat acrylic handpiece with ergonomic curves A bean shaped ergonomic shape

The project included identifying user needs, brainstorming, conceptualization, Interaction design, prototyping, market research, manufacturing, assembly and testing. The target market are ordinary consumers who want to communicate more privately, more personally than they can with current devices. Users who use SMS messaging will find this a new, more tactile interface for recreational messaging. The special needs users will have a shared sensory experience. This project is the subject of my Master's Thesis in the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab. To be presented at DIS 2002.
Thesis Committee members: Professor Hiroshi Ishii, Professor Robert Jacob (Tufts EECS), Dr. Sile O'Modhrain
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