In some applications it would be useful to sense the emotions of the user and adapt the behaviour of the computer accordingly. If the user is in a furious mood, it is not advisable to irritate him anymore but to produce results fast.

We tried to figure out how we could sense these emotions and came up with the idea of attaching EMFI force sensitive sensors on a mouse and under a keyboard. If the user is angry, he is probably pressing the mouse quite hard, we assumed. Measurements were made and their results were studied but the results were not very encouraging and we focused on the tablet interface instead.

Another alternative user interface which we studied is a floor element with EMFi sensors in a rectangular grid. This kind of a floor might have applications in games and entertainment.

This study was conducted in co-operation with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Department of Automation Science and Engineering in Tampere University of Technology and the TAUCHI research group in Tampere University.

Links
Emfit Ltd. EMFI sensors
User interfaces, Wikipedia
Daniel Hadley on alternative user interfaces

Designed by Alpo Värri 25.8.2008