Projects: MagiThings:Interaction with Mobile Devices via Magnetic Sensor (Compass)                                                                    back Home
The theory of Around Device Interaction (ADI) has recently gained a lot of attention in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). As an alternative to the classic data entry methods, such as keypads and touch screens, ADI founds a 3D user interface that extends to the peripheral area of a device. In this project we introduce a revolutionary interaction framework that is based on the idea of ADI. The proposed method constitutes a touchless data entry system that is based on the interaction between the magnetic fields around a device and a properly shaped magnet. The magnetic field that surrounds the device is generated by a magnetic sensor (compass) that is embedded in the new generation of mobile phones such as Apple iPhone 3Gs and 4G, and Google Nexus one. The user movements of the properly shaped magnet in front of the device, then, deforms the sensor's original magnetic field pattern whereby we can constitute a new means of communication between the user and the device. Thus, the magnetic field encompassing the device plays the role of a communication channel and encodes the hand-movement patterns of the user into temporal changes of the sensor's magnetic field. In the back-end of the communication, an engine such as a mobile phone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) samples the momentary status of the field during a trial and recognizes the user's pattern by matching it against some pre-recorded templates. The proposed method has been tested in a variety of applications including, but not limited, to the ones that follow:

MAGITACT: MOVE YOUR HAND AND INTERACT                                                                                                                                                                       
MagiTact application enables the user to interact with a device by taking a magnet in one hand and making coarse hand gestures around the device. This way the user can send various commands to the device whereby the phone can take several actions such as turning pages, zooming, single/double clicking, accepting/rejecting a call or calling an application or service according to the command at hand.

Video of MagiTact:

 

MAGIWRITE: WRITING IN THE AIR                                                                                                                                                                                           

Writing in the air has been a fantasy for humans for a long time. In this application we have used our gesture-based, magnetic interaction framework to realize such a text and digit inputting method. This approach is especially useful for small mobile devices in which it is hard to operate with small buttons or touch screen. Using our technique, though, the text entry space extends beyond physical boundaries of the device.

Video of MagiWrite:

MAGISIGN: USING A MAGNET TO LOG IN TO YOUR PHONE                                                                                                                                                    

Another application of our touch-less interaction framework is to authenticate/identify the user for verification purposes. In this case the gesture of the user constitutes his signature which will be compared against a signatures database of all the users to see if the entry matches with any of these pre-recorded templates or not. One of the advantages of using such approach for user authentication is that using the 3D space around the device will add one degree of freedom to the traditional 2D signing on the screen which in turn will lead to a more complex structure that is harder for another person to replicate.

Video of MagiSign:

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MAGISOUND: USING YOUR PHONE AS A VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT                                                                                                                                            
In this project, we have investigated the application of our magnetic interaction framework to music playing. Here we have implemented an application on an iPhone that
enables the user to play an instrument of his choice (e.g., chordophones, percussions or guitar) by imitating a music playing gestures around the phone. Again the
interaction between the user and the instrument (phone) is attained trough tracking the movement of the magnet in the player's hand by the phone via its magnetic
sensor. This can allow for a natural, comfortable and flexible interaction for such an application that requires a high degree of interaction as well as a fast feedback
on user's actions.

Video of MagiSound:
MagiThings-Publications                                                                                                                                                                                                        

2010

•       MagiMusic: Using Embedded Compass (Magnetic) Sensor for Touch-less Gesture Based Interaction with Digital Music Instruments in Mobile Devices

Hamed Ketabdar, AmirHossein JahanBekam, Kamer Ali Yuksel, Tobias Hirsch
The Fifth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, Madeira, Portugal, January 23-26, 2011

Abstract (.txt), paper (.pdf)

 

•       MagiSign: User Identification/Authentication Based on 3D Around Device Magnetic Signatures

Hamed Ketabdar, Kamer Ali Yuksel, AmirHossein JahanBekam, Mehran Roshandel, Daria Skripko
The Fourth International Conference on Mobile Ubiquitous Computing, Systems, Services and Technologies, Italy, October 25-30, 2010

Abstract (.txt), paper (.pdf)

 

•       Towards Digital Music Performance for Mobile Devices Based on Magnetic Interaction

Hamed Ketabdar, Kamer Ali Yuksel
IEEE International Workshop on Haptic Audio Visual Environments and Games, Arizona State University, USA, October 16-17, 2010

Abstract(.txt), paper(.pdf)

  

•       MagiEntertain: Mobile Entertainment Interaction Based On Magnetic Field

Hamed Ketabdar, Kamer Ali Yuksel
Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on Game and Entertainment Technologies, Freiburg, Germany, July 26-28, 2010
Abstract(.txt), paper(.pdf)

  

•       Towards Using Embedded Magnetic Field Sensor for Around Mobile Device 3D Interaction

Hamed Ketabdar, Kamer Ali Yuksel, Mehran Roshandel
The Twelfth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, Lisbon, Portugal, September 7-10, 2010
 Abstract(.txt), paper(.pdf)

 

•       MagiWrite: Towards Touchless Digit Entry Using 3D Space Around Mobile Devices

Hamed Ketabdar, Kamer Ali Yuksel, Mehran Roshandel
The Twelfth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, Lisbon, Portugal, September 7-10, 2010
 Abstract(.txt), paper(.pdf)

 

•       MagiTact: Interaction with Mobile Devices Based on Compass (magnetic) Sensor

Hamed Ketabdar,Kamer Ali Yuksel, Mehran Roshandel
Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, pp. 413-414 , Hong Kong, China, 2010
 Abstract(.txt), paper(.pdf)
Contact Details                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Dr. Hamed Ketabdar
Deutsche Telekom Laboratories, TU Berlin
Ernst-Reuter-Platz 7
10587 Berlin, Germany

phone: +49 (30) 8353-58228
email: Hamed.Ketabdar@telekom.de