Abstract
In this paper, we introduce and evaluate a mobile application service that allows contact-free interaction with a mobile device by utilizing only an ambient light sensor. The proposed solution enables single-handed UI navigation without touching the smartphone screen. The advantage of implemented service is the use of an embedded light sensor, which the majority of manufactures presently integrate into mobile devices. Hence, the use of any additional accessories or external sensing hardware is not required. The service itself is designed as a floating widget that can be attached to the target mobile application, thus augmenting it with Around Device Interaction (ADI) support. Two different navigation patterns (manual and automatic) can be utilized to control the widget position on the screen and activate target UI elements. A controlled experiment involving 20 participants was conducted in order to evaluate and comparatively assess the performances of the implemented solution. We present and discuss the findings of this empirical research.
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Siek, K., Rogers, Y., Connelly, K.: Fat finger worries: how older and younger users physically interact with PDAs. In: Proceedings of the 2005 IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT 2005), pp. 267–280. ACM Press, New York (2005)
Widgor, D., Forlines, C., Baudisch, P., Barnwell J., Shen C.: LucidTouch: a see-through mobile device. In: Proceedings of the 20th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2007), pp. 269–278. ACM Press, New York (2007)
Huber, P.: Inaccurate input on touch devices relating to the fingertip. In: Media Informatics Proseminar (2015)
Butler, A., Izadi, S., Hodges, S.: SideSight: Multi-“touch” interaction around small devices. In: Proceedings of the 21st Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2008), pp. 201–204. ACM Press, New York (2008)
Kratz, S., Rohs, M.: Hoverflow: exploring around-device interaction with IR distance sensors. In: Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI 2009), pp. 42:1–42:4. ACM Press, New York (2009)
Zhao, C., Chen, K-Y., Aumi, M.T.I., Patel, S., Reynolds, M.S.: SideSwipe: detecting in-air gestures around mobile devices using actual GSM signal. In: Proceedings of the 27th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2014), pp. 527–534. ACM Press, New York (2014)
Harrison, C., Hudson, S.E.: Abracadabra: wireless, high-precision, and unpowered finger input for very small mobile devices. In: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2009), pp. 121–124. ACM Press, New York (2009)
Ketabdar, H., Ali Yüksel, K., Roshandel, M.: MagiTact: interaction with mobile devices based on compass (magnetic) sensor. In: Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2010), pp. 413–414. ACM Press, New York (2010)
Hwang, S., Ahn, M., Wohn, K.: MagGetz: customizable passive tangible controllers on and around conventional mobile devices. In: Proceedings of the 26th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2013), pp. 411–416. ACM Press, New York (2013)
Ketabdar, H., Haji-Abolhassani, A., Roshandel, M.: MagiThings: gestural interaction with mobile devices based on using embedded compass magnetic field sensor. Int. J. Mob. Hum. Comput. Interact. 5(3), 23–41 (2013)
Lv, Z., Halawani, A., Khan, M.S.L., Rehman, S.U.: Finger in air: touch-less interaction on smartphone. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM 2013), pp. 16:1–16:4. ACM Press, New York (2013)
Grubert, J., Ofer, E., Pahud, M., Kranz, M., Schmalstieg, D.: GlassHands: interaction around unmodified mobile devices using sunglasses. In: Proceedings of the 2016 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (ISS 2016), pp. 215–224. ACM Press, New York (2016)
Dell, N., Dsilva, K., Borriello, G.: Mobile touch-free interaction for global health. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (HotMobile 2015), pp. 15–20. ACM Press, New York (2015)
Zhang, C., Tabor, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, X.: Extending mobile interaction through near-field visible light sensing. In: Proceedings of the 21st Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom 2015), pp. 345–357. ACM Press, New York (2015)
Wen, E., Seah, W., Ng, B., Liu, X., Cao, J.: UbiTouch: ubiquitous smartphone touchpads using built-in proximity and ambient light sensors. In: Proceedings of 2016 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2016), pp. 286–297. ACM Press, New York (2016)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Salkanovic, A., Ljubic, S. (2021). Touchless Interaction on Mobile Devices Using Embedded Ambient Light Sensor. In: Streitz, N., Konomi, S. (eds) Distributed, Ambient and Pervasive Interactions. HCII 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12782. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77015-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77015-0_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77014-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77015-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)