Come alive! Augmented Mobile Interaction with Smart Hair

Abstract

Many research and products have augmented mobile interaction by integrating shape changing interface to overcome limited interaction space. However, most of these control systems tend to be complex and hard to configure due to the mechanical limitations of the actuators. Furthermore there are a few studies about using a shape changing I/O integrated interface with mobile technology. Therefore, we introduce a way to augment interaction on mobile phones with shape changing interface called "Smart Hair". The "Smart Hair" is a sensor integrated actuator that curves its shape according to the intensity of light. This simple system enables the users to implement physical interaction that is synchronized with the mobile phone. Different from previous works of the research, we developed the input method for mobile use. This study describes the development of the shape changing interface on mobile phones and discusses the practical use of the developed interface. As an application example, we developed physical body of smart phone which behaves as if it is an interactive robot. In addition, we evaluated how people perceive the motion of the interface. The result showed that the behavior of the actuator could evoke subtle emotion to the users.