Sensing Thumb-to-Finger Taps for Symbolic Input in VR/AR Environments

Prätorius Manuel, Burgbacher Ulrich, Valkov Dimitar, Hinrichs Klaus

Abstract

Thumb-to-finger tap interaction can be employed to perform eyes-free, discrete, symbolic input in virtual and augmented reality environments. The DigiTap device is worn on the wrist to keep the hand free from any instrumentation so as not to impair tactile sense and dexterity. DigiTap senses the jerk that is caused by a tap and takes an image sequence to detect the tap location. The device can recognize taps at 12 different locations on the fingers, and at some positions, it can even distinguish between different tap strengths. The authors conducted an extended user study to evaluate users' abilities to interact with the device and perform symbolic input.