WoodTouch, a new interaction interface for wooden furniture
This addresses a problem for furniture and interior design companies by opening a new market for interactive wooden products, but it appears incremental as it applies existing touch-sensitive technology to wood.
The paper tackles the problem of enabling touch interaction with wooden furniture surfaces for controlling electric appliances, resulting in a new technology that allows users to operate devices like lights and heating systems by touching wood.
If wood has been with us since time immemorial, being part of our environment, housing and tools, now wood has gain momentum, as it is clear that wood improves our life style. Because of the healthiness, resistance, ecology and comfort, wood is important for all of us, no matter what our life style is. WOODTOUCH Project aims to open a completely new market for furniture and interior design companies, enabling touch interaction between the user and wooden furniture surfaces. Why not switch on or dim the lights touching a wooden table? Why not turn on the heating system? Why not use wood as a touch sensitive surface for domotic control? The furniture designed with this novel technology, offers a wooden outer image and has different touch sensitive areas over the ones the user is able to control all sorts of electric appliances touching over a wooden surface.