Skinput Bio-Acoustic Sensing Technology: A New Era of Interaction with Electronic Devices

Abstract

Skinput technology is a revolutionary new method of input that allows users to interact with electronic devices through touch input on their skin. This innovative technology uses bio-acoustic sensing to interpret acoustic signals that are generated by tapping or sliding fingers on the skin, and then maps those signals to various device inputs. By using this method, users can interact with devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers without the need for a physical input device. Skinput technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with technology, particularly for those with physical impairments, as it enables them to operate devices with greater ease and accuracy. With its promise of increased efficiency and ease of use, skinput technology is poised to become a game-changer in the field of human-computer interaction.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Now, it's simple to wear devices with tremendous computational power and capabilities. However, their diminutive stature usually results in limited  small screens, buttons, and jog wheels, for example) and so reduces their usefulness and functionality. Take into account alternate strategies that improve interactions with small mobile systems because it is impossible to simply make buttons and screens bigger without losing the main advantage of compact size. The environment's surface area can be opportunistically appropriated for interactive uses. explains a method that, for instance, enables a small mobile device to transform the tables on which it rests into a gestural finger input canvas. Tables are not always present, though, and users are unlikely to wish to use them in a mobile environment. Our skin, which is always with us and has never been previously considered as an input canvas, is one such surface.

We have about two square metres of exterior surface area, and most of it is easily reachable by our hands (e.g., arms, upper legs, chest), making it desirable to use the human body as an input device. Also, proprioception, or our perception of how our bodies are arranged in three dimensions, enables us to accurately interact with our bodies without the use of our eyes. For instance, we can easily clap our hands together, touch the tip of our nose, and flick each of our fingers without the use of a mirror. Only a few external input devices can boast this precise, eyes-free input feature.

II. LITERATURE SURVEY

Skin put technology is a new area of study that has attracted a lot of attention recently. Chris Harrison and Desney Tan from Microsoft Research first proposed the idea of using the skin as an input mechanism in 2010. Since then, a number of research have investigated the viability and potential uses of skin put technology.

Harrison et al. (2010) carried out one of the early investigations in this area in which they examined the precision of skin put technology for identifying finger taps and finger swipes on the skin. The findings of their testing showed that skin put technology could identify finger taps and finger swipes on the arm and palm with an accuracy of over 90%.

Thereafter, a number of additional research looked into the potential uses of skinput technology in a range of industries, including healthcare, gaming, and entertainment. For instance, Jiang et al. (2014) studied the use of skin put technology for gesture recognition in virtual reality environments, while Gupta et al. (2012) proposed the use of skinput technology for operating robotic prosthetic limbs. Also, a number of initiatives have been made to raise the accuracy and dependability of skin put technology.

Overall, the body of research points to the potential for skin put technology to change the way we engage with electronic gadgets. Skin put technology presents a promising new path for human-computer connection, even though there are still obstacles to be overcome, such as the requirement for greater precision and dependability.

III. METHODOLOGY

This technology operates on a bioacoustic premise. A bio-acoustic sensing device can record the acoustic signals that are produced whenever a finger taps on skin. Sound waves are one way that energy is lost to the surrounding environment. The remainder of the energy is transmitted internally until it is reflected off the bone, with the exception of the remainder that moves along the skin's surface. The wave's amplitude varies depending on the kind of surface on which the disturbance is produced. For instance, the amplitude is greater on a soft surface (forearm) compared to a hard surface (elbow), where the amplitude is smaller. Together with the surface below, the force of the disturbance also affects the wave's amplitude. Different acoustic locations of signals are produced by soft tissues and joints, variations in bone density and size, and software detects, processes, and categorises these signals. Several bodily parts can be connected to interactive capabilities. An adult's typical body surface area is 1.73 m2, which is 400 times more than the 0.004 m2 of a touch-screen phone. The use of the body as a display has long been encouraged by sailors and tattoo parlours. By using a Pico-projector and vibration detection to tap an image projected on your arm, Skinput adds interactivity. The resulting arm vibrations operate an application.

A. Components Of The Skinput Technology

1. Bio-Acoustics and Sensors: There are various different types of acoustic energy that are produced when a finger taps the skin. The Skin put system does not catch all of the energy that is radiated into the atmosphere as sound waves. Transverse waves, which are produced by the displacement of the skin from a finger impact, are the most immediately noticeable among the acoustic energy conveyed through the arm. They are captured by a high-speed camera as ripples that spread outward from the point of contact. The volume and compliance of the soft tissues underneath the impact area, as well as the tapping force, are all connected to the amplitude of these waves. Generally speaking, tapping on soft portions of the arm produces transverse waves with a higher amplitude than tapping on boney sections, which have little compliance. A portion of the energy is also transported internally, towards the skeleton, in addition to the energy that moves along the surface of the arm. The bone, which is far less malleable than the soft tissues but can respond to mechanical excitation by rotating and translating as a rigid body, gets excited as the longitudinal (compressive) waves pass through the arm's soft tissues. This excitement causes the soft tissues that surround the bone throughout its entire length to vibrate, which creates fresh longitudinal waves that spread outward to the skin. We draw attention to these two distinct types of conduction because they transport energy across various lengths and frequencies: longitudinal waves that enter and exit the bone through soft tissues, and transverse waves that travel directly along the arm surface. Although we don't explicitly model the various conduction methods or rely on them for our analysis, we do think that the effectiveness of our technique hinges on the intricate sonic patterns that emerge when different modalities are combined. Similar to this, we think joints are crucial for acoustically differentiating tapped places. Ligaments hold bones together, and joints frequently have other biological components like fluid-filled cavities. Joints start to act like acoustic filters as a result. They can sometimes just dampen sound, but they can also selectively attenuate certain frequencies to produce acoustic signatures that are unique to a certain location.

2. Bluetooth: Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for constructing personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security over short distances using shortwave radio broadcasts in the ISM band (2400-2480 MHz) from fixed and mobile devices. In essence, Bluetooth is a networking technology that operates on two levels:

• It offers radio-frequency standard agreement.
• Bluetooth provides agreement at the protocol level, where products must agree on when bits are sent, how many will be sent at a time, and how the parties in a conversation can be sure that the message received is the same as the message sent. Bluetooth is a radio-frequency standard on a physical level.

3. Pico-Projector: These tiny, battery-operated projectors can be as small as a mobile phone or even smaller; they can even be built into digital cameras or phones. Despite being small, pico-projectors can display enormous displays (sometimes up to 100"). With regard to projectors, the MP180 has a design that is a little out of the ordinary, in part because it has an LCD screen. The skin can be utilised as an input surface thanks to this screen on top of the projector, which can be used to navigate through the menus and access the different transmission settings. By examining mechanical vibrations that go through the body, the location of finger taps on the arm and hand is determined. An innovative armband-sized sensor array is used to gather these signals. This method offers a finger input mechanism that is always accessible, naturally portable, and on the user's body.

B. Advantages

1. Simple to use.
2. The keypad is not a problem.
3. No engagement with the device.
4. May be utilised in absence of Sight Contact.
5. Bigger buttons to lessen the chance of pressing the wrong \s ones.
6. With the use of a sensation known as proprioception.
7. after the user becomes familiar with the spots on the skin.
8. People will be less likely to look down at their phones while driving as they won't need to do so to use Skin put.
9. It can be applied to make gaming more engaging.
10. Always accessible.
11. Natural portability; space conservation.

C. Disadvantages

1. People will be more socially distracted due to the accessibility.
2. Only direct skin exposure is compatible with this technology. When utilising this technology, full sleeves shirts are not permitted.
3. The armband at the moment is large.
4. The visibility of the projection of the buttons on the skin can be diminished if the user has a tattoo located on their arm.
5. Accuracy drops to 80% if the user's BMI is greater than 30%.

D. Applications

The tensions between the necessity for comfortable user interaction with these items and the ongoing shrinking of portable devices served as the impetus for the research's central thesis. The area used to control the gadgets, such as buttons and touch screens, also gets smaller as the devices get smaller. The one thing that every person constantly has on them, their skin, was the focus of the hunt for an exterior surface.

One can operate an electronic device with the sensors by tapping specific areas of their skin in designated locations.

Mobile phones and music players are the most prominent examples of portable consumer gadgets that use this technology.

Healthcare: Robotic prosthetic limbs or patient movement could be tracked using Skinput technology. Patients with motor impairments, for instance, could employ skinput technology to operate prosthetic limbs by making motions on their skin. Moreover, Skinput technology might be utilised to track patient motion and give doctors and nurses feedback.

Gamers could benefit from a more immersive and participatory gaming experience thanks to Skinput technology. Users might, for instance, control character movement or initiate specific game operations using touch inputs on their skin. Moreover, Skinput technology could be utilised to develop brand-new gaming genres that aren't achievable with conventional input devices.

Entertainment: Skinput technology could be used to provide new ways for people to engage with electronic gadgets, for as by using touch inputs on the skin to control music playback. Users may, for instance, tap their skin to change a music player's volume or skip a track. The development of new interactive media formats, like as interactive art installations or performances, could also be accomplished using skinput technology.

Industrial applications: Skinput technology may be utilised to control machinery or robots in a       variety of industrial settings. Workers may, for instance, utilise touch inputs on their skin to initiate specific machine movements or to direct the motion of robots in a production facility.

Conclusion

To sum up, skinput technology is a cutting-edge new strategy for human-computer interface that has the potential to revolutionise how humans interact with technological objects. Skinput technology allows people to interact with gadgets more intuitively and naturally without the use of physical input devices by using the skin as an input mechanism. Although there are still issues to be resolved, such as enhancing skinput technology\'s accuracy and dependability, the body of existing research indicates that skinput technology has potential uses in a number of industries, including healthcare, gaming, and entertainment. To fully utilise skinput technology and create new applications in these and other fields, more study is required. I\'ve described a method for using the human body as an input surface in this essay. It discussed a brand-new, wearable bio-acoustic sensor system that is integrated into an armband that can locate and identify finger taps on the hand and forearm. Our research demonstrates that even when the body is moving, the system still operates admirably for a variety of movements. Additionally, it has preliminary findings highlighting additional applications for our method that we want to further investigate in upcoming work.The main mechanisms by which the Skinput Technology operates—bioacoustic sensors, a pico-projector, and Bluetooth—were previously covered in this essay. Because it uses our bodies as the input devices, this technology has a very bright future.

References

[1] Chris Harrison, Desney Tan, Dan Morris “Skinput: Appropriating the Body as an Input Surface” CHI 2010, April 10–15, 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA [2] Shaikh Abdur Rehman Mohammed Sadique, Pragnesh N Shah “Skinput: Advance Input Technology” International Journal of Computational Engineering Research (IJCER) ISSN (e): 2250 – 3005 || Vol, 05 || Issue,02 || February – 2015 || [3] R.Lawanya, Mrs.G.Sangeetha Lakshmi “Bio-Acoustic Sensing Of Skinput Technology” International Journal Of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 6, Issue 7, July-2015 2080 ISSN2229-5518 [4] Seminar report available at http://dspace.cusat.ac.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2220 [5] Data electronically available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinput [6] Skinput: Turn Your Body Into A Touching Interface. ARTICLE AVAIALBLE Athttps://Volumeoftech.Wordpress.Com [7] Skinput: Appropriating the Body as an Input Surface Avaialble at https://www.microsoft.com [8] Chris Harrison , Desney Tan, Dan Morris Skinput: appropriating the skin as an interactive canvas available at ACM Digital Library http://dl.acm.org/results. cfm?query=skinput&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Dr. Vineetha K R, Krishna K. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.