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Wearable inertial sensors have become an inexpensive option to measure the movements and positions of a person. Other techniques that use environmental sensors such as ultrasound trackers or vision-based methods need full line of sight or a local setup, and it is complicated to access this data from a wearable computer’s perspective. However, a body-centric approach where sensor data is acquired and processed locally, has a need for appropriate algorithms that have to operate under restricted resources. The objective of this paper is to give an overview of algorithms that abstract inertial data from bodyworn sensors, illustrated using data from state-ofthe-art wearable multi-accelerometer prototypes.

This paper highlights and characterizes the main obstacle to deploying a robust wireless sensor network testbed: the USB connections that link each of the nodes via ethernet gateways to the central server. Unfortunately, these connections are also the components that, when properly installed, can reduce testbed costs by attaching multiple nodes per gateway. After illustrating how unreliable current solutions can become (regardless of the used sensor nodes, USB cabling, or gateway setup), a set of experiments led to a list of dos and don'ts in testbed deployment. Furthermore, a simple and cost-effective suggestion is presented that allows to bypass current USB backchannel issues, leading to a more robust testbed that avoids manual maintenance of individual nodes.

This paper presents a low-cost and practical approach to achieve basic input using a tactile cube-shaped object, augmented with a set of sensors, processor, batteries and wireless communication. The algorithm we propose combines a finite state machine model incorporating prior knowledge about the symmetrical structure of the cube, with maximum likelihood estimation using multivariate Gaussians. The claim that the presented solution is cheap, fast and requires few resources, is demonstrated by implementation in a small-sized, microcontroller-driven hardware configuration with inexpensive sensors. We conclude with a few prototyped applications that aim at characterizing how the familiar and elementary shape of the cube allows it to be used as an interaction device.

To augment everyday environments as interface to computing may lead to more accessible and inclusive user interfaces, exploiting affordances existing in the physical world for interaction with digital functionality. A major challenge for such interfaces is to preserve accustomed uses while providing unobtrusive access to new services. In this paper we discuss augmentation of common surfaces such as tables as generic pointing device. The basic concept is to sense the load, the load changes and the patterns of change observed on a surface using embedded load sensors. We describe the interaction model used to derive pointing actions from basic sensor observations, and detail the technical augmentation of two ordinary tables that we used for our experiments. The technology effectively emulates a serial mouse, and our implementation and use experience prove that it is unobtrusive, robust, and both intuitively and reliably usable.

The paper presents an inter-faculties experience stemming from the common interests of researchers and designers in ludic interactions between people and interfaces. The new territories mapped by the game and Ambient Intelligence (AmI) paradigms in everyday communication interfaces are a shift in how design incorporates new functions and meaning. Design itself has become a way to play with artifacts, complex systems and networks. Moving beyond formal and aesthetical use of games, it is possible to bring different competences to reflect together on the interviewing of game and play elements in the design of the daily spaces, objects and activities. The question is how the play paradigm can improve the relationship between people and ambients and, as a consequence, the issues of Interaction Design in the AmI field of study. In this paper we present our initiative to build a multidisciplinary design group. From our synergy three particular areas have been identified as new design sectors in which games are involved in person’s environments.