The proliferation of body worn autometric devices has been enabled by advances in low-power electronics and fueled by the quantified-self movement. These devices range in complexity from pedometers to clinical vital sign measurement. They all share the same drawback, typically the most expensive and heaviest component, the battery. The future of autometric devices lies in wireless power. This work explores what is required from autometric devices and presents the results of testing both an embedded version and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) version of a wirelessly powered autometric device. / Graduation date: 2013

The occurrence of total knee replacements is increasing in the United States for persons over the age of 45 because they are inexpensive and a very effective method for treating degenerative joint diseases. Rehabilitation requires regular access to a wide variety of resources and personnel and, as the demand for post-operative, rehabilitative care increases, the ability to marginally relieve the healthcare system by offloading resources to the patient is necessary. Tools to enable tracking a patient’s rehabilitative progress at home are an essential method to help unload the healthcare system. The purpose of this project is to design and develop a wearable home rehabilitation device for knee replacement. This thesis utilizes design ethnography tools such as expert interviews, rehabilitation observation, a participatory design workshop, iterative development, and an idea feedback study. Leveraging advancements in technology and the field of eTextiles, this study investigates the product feasibility and acceptance of discreet on-body sensors to provide a product that enables patients to better perform rehabilitation on their own, but also to allow for a feedback loop for physicians and therapists to view patient progress.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is being revolutionized by computational design and artificial intelligence. As the diversity of user interfaces shifts from personal desktops to mobile and wearable devices, yesterday’s tools and interfaces are insufficient to meet the demands of tomorrow’s devices. This dissertation describes my research on leveraging different physical channels (e.g., vibration, light, capacitance) to enable novel interaction opportunities. We first introduce FontCode, an information embedding technique for text documents. Given a text document with specific fonts, our method can embed user-specified information (e.g., URLs, meta data, etc) in the text by perturbing the glyphs of text characters while preserving the text content. The embedded information can later be retrieved using a smartphone in real time. Then, we present Vidgets, a family of mechanical widgets, specifically push buttons and rotary knobs that augment mobile devices with tangible user interfaces. When these widgets are attached to a mobile device and a user interacts with them, the nonlinear mechanical response of the widgets shifts the device slightly and quickly. Subsequently, this subtle motion can be detected by the Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs), which is commonly installed on mobile devices. Next, we propose BackTrack, a trackpad placed on the back of a smartphone to track finegrained finger motions. Our system has a small form factor, with all the circuits encapsulated in a thin layer attached to a phone case. It can be used with any off-the-shelf smartphone, requiring no power supply or modification of the operating systems. BackTrack simply extends the finger tracking area of the front screen, without interrupting the use of the front screen. Lastly, we demonstrate MoiréBoard, a new camera tracking method that leverages a seemingly irrelevant visual phenomenon, the moiré effect. Based on a systematic analysis of the moiré effect under camera projection, MoiréBoard requires no power nor camera calibration. It can easily be made at a low cost (e.g., through 3D printing) and ready to use with any stock mobile device with a camera. Its tracking algorithm is computationally efficient and can run at a high frame rate. It is not only simple to implement, but also tracks devices at a high accuracy, comparable to the state-of-the-art commercial VR tracking systems.

Conventional head-mounted projection displays (HMPDs) contain of a pair of miniature projection lenses, beamsplitters, and miniature displays mounted on the helmet, as well as a retro-reflective screen placed strategically in the environment. We have extened the HMPD technology integrating the screen into a fully mobile embodiment. Some initial efforts of demonstrating this technology has been captured followed by an investigation of the diffraction effects versus image degradation caused by integrating the retro-reflective screen within the HMPD. The key contribution of this research is the conception and development of a mobileHMPD (M-HMPD). We have included an extensive analysis of macro- and microscopic properties that encompass the retro-reflective screen. Furthermore, an evaluation of the overall performance of the optics will be assessed in both object space for the optical designer and visual space for the possible users of this technology. This research effort will also be focused on conceiving a mobile M-HMPD aimed for dual indoor/outdoor applications. The M-HMPD shares the known advantage such as ultralightweight optics (i.e. 8g per eye), unperceptible distortion (i.e. ≤ 2.5%), and lightweight headset (i.e. ≤ 2.5 lbs) compared with eyepiece type head-mounted displays (HMDs) of equal eye relief and field of view. In addition, the M-HMPD also presents an advantage over the preexisting HMPD in that it does not require a retro-reflective screen placed strategically in the environment. This newly developed M-HMPD has the ability to project clear images at three different locations within near- or far-field observation depths without loss of image quality. This particular M-HMPD embodiment was targeted to mixed reality, augmented reality, and wearable display applications.

Human states are fundamentally influenced by inherent physiological signals and are manifested through physical body statuses. Accurate, continuous monitoring of human physical and physiological signals is critical for enhancing healthcare, personalizing education, and facilitating human interaction with the physical environment. However, current methods for acquiring human data often require heavy instrumentation of the environment, demand extensive manual inputs, or rely on wearable sensors that are often rigid or adhesive, leading to discomfort over prolonged use. This thesis presents the transformation of everyday conductive fabrics into a natural, pervasive sensing platform capable of detecting human physical body movements and underlying physiological signals. Using fabrics as sensors for reliable human sensing presents numerous practical challenges, including motion noise caused by the fabric’s intrinsic flexibility, data variability due to individual and environmental differences, and the limited computing power of wearable computing units. This thesis addresses these challenges by combining novel hardware and systems techniques with efficient computational methods. The first part of the thesis demonstrates fabric-based physical sensing by developing a sleeve embedded with sensing fabrics to reconstruct elbow joint motion. Our design combines conductive, stretchable fabrics that sense strain with pressure fabrics that sense pressure during elbow motion. We develop biomechanics-inspired algorithms for joint angle reconstruction and construct mathematical models employing normalization strategies to achieve generalization across different conditions. These design elements address the fabric’s non-monotonic response to motion, its sensing instability, and user diversity. Such systems can facilitate patient rehabilitation and motion teaching. The second part of the thesis focuses on fabric-based physiological sensing, where we repurpose conductive fabrics as sensing electrodes for measuring biopotential signals on the human body, such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyography (EMG). We optimize sensor designs to overcome the weak signal-to-noise ratio of these biopotentials and mitigate motion artifacts. We also apply neural networks for denoising and identifying user-independent features. We developed a fabric necklace made of these fabric sensors to monitor the practice of Kangaroo Mother Care. The system senses ECG transmission across the human body to infer the duration of chest-to-chest skin contact between the infant and caregiver, as well as the infant’s vital signs, all of which hold significant clinical value. Our latest effort embeds fabric sensors into pillowcases to sense ECG and EMG around the user’s neck and infer multiple sleep variables (e.g., sleep pose, vital signs). This enables non-intrusive, large-scale sleep monitoring without disrupting normal sleep routines.

Textile forms of wearable technology offer the potential for users to interact with electronic devices in a whole new manner. However, the operation of a wearable system can result in non-traditional on-body interactions (including gestural commands) that users may not be comfortable with performing in a public setting. Understanding the societal perceptions of gesture-based interactions will ultimately impact how readily a new form of mobile technology will be adopted within society. The goal of this research is to assess the social acceptability of a user's interaction with an electronic textile wearable interface. Two means of interaction were studied: the first was to assess the most acceptable input method for the interface (tapping, sliding, circular rotation); and the second assessment was to measure the social acceptability of a user interacting with the detachable textile interface at different locations on the body. The study recruited participants who strictly identified themselves as being of American nationality so as to gain insight into the culture-specific perceptions of interacting with a wearable form of technology.

While much attention has been paid to the usability of desktop computers, mobile com- puters are quickly becoming the dominant platform. Because mobile computers may be used in nearly any situation--including while the user is actually in motion, or performing other tasks--interfaces designed for stationary use may be inappropriate, and alternative interfaces should be considered. In this dissertation I consider the idea of microinteractions--interactions with a device that take less than four seconds to initiate and complete. Microinteractions are desirable because they may minimize interruption; that is, they allow for a tiny burst of interaction with a device so that the user can quickly return to the task at hand. My research concentrates on methods for applying microinteractions through wrist- based interaction. I consider two modalities for this interaction: touchscreens and motion- based gestures. In the case of touchscreens, I consider the interface implications of making touchscreen watches usable with the finger, instead of the usual stylus, and investigate users' performance with a round touchscreen. For gesture-based interaction, I present a tool, MAGIC, for designing gesture-based interactive system, and detail the evaluation of the tool.

The sales representatives primary duties are to attract wholesale and retail buyers and purchasing agents to their merchandise, and to address any of their client's questions or concerns. Aided by a laptop computer connected to the Internet, they can access the customer information and sell products to their customer immediately. This project, a Mobile Order Entry System using cellphones, will give sales representatives as state-of-the-art alternative in accessing anf selling products to their customers through cell phones instead of using laptop computers.

No description available.