3DTouch: Towards a Wearable 3D Input Device for 3D Applications
This addresses the need for more accessible and less fatiguing input methods for users of 3D applications, though it is incremental as it builds on existing wearable and touch-based technologies.
The authors tackled the problem of interacting with 3D applications by developing 3DTouch, a wearable fingertip device that uses touch input for stability and reduced fatigue, achieving tracking accuracy of 1.10 mm and 2.33 degrees.
Three-dimensional (3D) applications have come to every corner of life. We present 3DTouch, a novel 3D wearable input device worn on the fingertip for interacting with 3D applications. 3DTouch is self-contained, and designed to universally work on various 3D platforms. The device employs touch input for the benefits of passive haptic feedback, and movement stability. Moreover, with touch interaction, 3DTouch is conceptually less fatiguing to use over many hours than 3D spatial input devices such as Kinect. Our approach relies on relative positioning technique using an optical laser sensor and a 9-DOF inertial measurement unit. We implemented a set of 3D interaction techniques including selection, translation, and rotation using 3DTouch. An evaluation also demonstrates the device's tracking accuracy of 1.10 mm and 2.33 degrees for subtle touch interaction in 3D space. With 3DTouch project, we would like to provide an input device that reduces the gap between 3D applications and users.