Mnemonical Body Shortcuts: Gestural Interface for Mobile Devices

Abstract

Mobile devices' user interfaces are still quite similar to traditional interfaces offered by desktop computers, but those can be highly problematic when used in a mobile context. Human gesture recognition in mobile interaction appears as an important area to provide suitable on-the-move usability. We present a body space based approach to improve mobile device interaction and mobile performance, which we named as Mnemonical Body Shortcuts. The human body is presented as a rich repository of meaningful relations which are always available to interact with. These body-based gestures allow the user to naturally interact with mobile devices with no movement limitations. Preliminary studies using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology were performed, validating Mnemonical Body Shortcuts as an appropriate new mobile interaction mechanism. Following those studies, we developed inertial sensing prototypes using an accelerometer, ending in the construction and user testing of a gestural interface for mobile devices capable of properly recognizing Mnemonical Body Shortcuts and also providing suitable user control mechanisms and audio, visual and haptic feedback.