ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the need for touchless interactions with technology in public spaces. By leveraging mobile phones which are equipped with Bluetooth wireless transmitters, we enable touchless and app-less interactions between people and technology. The Bluetooth signal broadcast from everyday devices such as smart phones is used by Bluetooth receivers, such as wireless earbuds, to pair the devices and communicate data. In this work, on the other hand, the broadcasted Bluetooth signal is detected, along with any change in the signal caused by rotating one's phone or waving one's hand by the phone. These intentional gestures with one's phone in the presence of an equipped Bluetooth receiver are interpreted as 'words' of a communication language. Without the need to pair devices or download any software, the communication language enables touchless interactions between a user holding a phone and a computing system in a public space © 2023 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we report on a series of design innovation projects conducted by student teams at the University of Colorado at Denver in collaboration with research scientists at the US Air Force Research Lab. The COVID-19 pandemic has made apparent the risks of disease transmission through multiple vectors in public spaces that could potentially benefit from further protection and safety measures. Utilizing formal ideation and innovation methods from the 4D Design Innovation (DI) process, the teams studied what specific problems to solve, explored potential solution ideas, and developed some early-concept prototypes for feasibility demonstration. Design Innovation (DI) provides both an overall process for product design and also methods for each step in the process. This paper details the correlation between the steps in the DI process and the results produced by the teams. The teams primarily focused on minimizing the risk of disease transmission through reducing the physical touching of common public items;additional solutions relating to contact tracing and social distancing were also explored. Initial functional prototypes were developed and demonstrated for: (a) touchless elevator control systems using voice commands, foot pedals, gestures, and touchless buttons;(b) an automated desk usage hygienic management system;(c) an automated remote video person tracker for monitoring compliance with indoor social distancing and room capacity limits;and (d) a contact tracing app. We discuss the prototyped solutions in detail, and describe promising ways forward for developing these technologies, with the aims of combatting the spread of disease and ensuring overall public health, safety, and security. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Touchless Technology is facilitating the move to Zero User Interface(UI) propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic which has accelerated the use of this technology due to hygiene requirements. Zero UI can be defined as a controlled interface that enables user interaction with technology through voice, gestures, hand interaction, eye tracking, and biometrics such as facial recognition and contactless fingerprints. Smart devices, IoT sensors, smart appliances, smart TVs, smart assistants and consumer robotics are predominant examples of devices in which Zero UI is becoming increasingly adopted. These control interfaces include natural interaction modes such as voice or gestures. Touchscreens and shared devices such as kiosks, self-service counters and interactive displays are present in our everyday lives. Each of these interactions however is a concern for consumers in a post-COVID-19 world where hygiene is of utmost importance. The one-stop solution to hygienic interactions includes touchless technology such as voice control, remote mobile screen take over, biometric, and gesture control as Zero User interfaces. With the breakthroughs in image recognition and natural language processing, powered by advanced computer vision and machine learning, "Zero UI" is becoming a new normal. This paper is focusing on the progress of the touchless interaction technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, which actually accelerated development in this concept and moved it from being a luxury to a life necessity.