zPatch: Hybrid Resistive/Capacitive eTextile Input

Paul Strohmeier, Jarrod Knibbe, Sebastian Boring, Kasper Hornbæk

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)
384 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We present zPatch: an eTextile patch for hover, touch, and pressure input, using both resistive and capacitive sensing. zPatches are made by layering a piezo-resistive material between silver-plated ripstop, and embedding it in non-conductive fabric to form a patch. zPatches can be easily ironed onto most fabrics, in any location, enabling easy prototyping or ad hoc modifications of existing garments. We provide open-source resources for building and programming zPatches and present measures of the achievable sensing resolution of a zPatch. A pressure based targeting task demonstrated users could reliably hit pressure targets at up to 13 levels, given appropriate feedback. We demonstrate that the hybrid sensing approach reduces false activations and helps distinguish between gestures. Finally, we present example applications in which we use zPatches for controlling a music player, text entry and gaming input.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTEI 2018 - Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Publication date2018
Pages188-198
ISBN (Electronic)9781450355681
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
Event12th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction - Stockholm, Sweden
Duration: 18 Mar 201821 Mar 2018

Conference

Conference12th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction
Country/TerritorySweden
CityStockholm
Period18/03/201821/03/2018

Keywords

  • ETextile
  • Hybrid sensing
  • On body input

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