In this example, the speed of the spinning tag on the pinwheel is mapped to onscreen graphics. Credit: Eric Brockmeyer/Disney Research
Researchers have created ways to give a piece of paper sensing capabilities that allows it to respond to gesture commands and connect to the digital world, IoT. The method relies on small radio frequency (RFID) tags that are stuck on, printed or drawn onto the paper to create interactive, lightweight interfaces that can do anything from controlling music using a paper baton, to live polling in a classroom.
The technology – PaperID – leverages inexpensive, off-the-shelf RFID tags, which function without batteries but can be detected through a reader device placed in the same room as the tags. Each tag has a unique identification, so a reader’s antenna can pick out an individual among many. These tags only cost about 10c each and can be stuck onto paper. Alternatively, the tag’s antenna can also be drawn on paper with conductive ink.
Types of interaction: (a) wave; (b) swipe; (c) finger touch; (d) cover touch; (e) free air tag motion; (f) slider; (g) knob.Eric Brockmeyer/Disney Research
When a person’s hand waves, touches, swipes or covers a tag, the hand disturbs the signal path between an individual tag and its reader. Algorithms can recognize specific movements, then classify a signal interruption as a specific command. For example, swiping a hand over a tag placed on a pop-up book might cause the book to play a specific, programmed sound.
In this polling application, a student can pick a response on a worksheet and receive live feedback.Eric Brockmeyer/Disney Research
In this example, the wand’s frequency is mapped to music tempo and the velocity is mapped to gain.Eric Brockmeyer/Disney Research
They developed different interaction methods to adapt RFID tags. eg a simple sticker tag works well for an on/off button command, while multiple tags drawn side-by-side on paper in an array or circle can serve as sliders and knobs. “The interesting aspect of PaperID is that it leverages commodity RFID technology thereby expanding the use cases for RFID in general and allowing researchers to prototype these kind of interactive systems without having to build custom hardware,” said Prof. Shwetak Patel.
They also can track the velocity of objects in movement, such as following the motion of a tagged paper conductor’s wand and adjusting the pace of the music based on the tempo of the wand in mid-air. This technique can be used on other mediums besides paper to enable gesture-based sensing capabilities. http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/05/11/paper-gets-smart-with-drawn-on-stenciled-sensor-tags/
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/disneyresearch/wp-content/uploads/20160502234124/PaperID-A-Technique-for-Drawing-Functional-Battery-Free-Wireless-Interfaces-on-Paper-Paper.pdf
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