Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Engineering (Research)

Department

Electronic Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Martin Klepal

Abstract

Weiser’s [1] vision of ubiquitous computing presents a different paradigm of computing which attempts to push computers into the background towards invisibility. Therefore “new concepts for human-computer interaction have to be developed when envisioning ubiquitous computing scenarios [1]. Instead of a single screen-based user interface (UI), humans will interact with a number of devices that are distributed and interconnected. These eomputers range from highly personal and mobile applianees to systems that are integrated in everyday environments and are more or less invisible.”[7] As this project suggests, a disappearing user interface in ubiquitous computing can be designed as a gesture recognition system that is accomplished by building a system network that can track and locate objects as well as measure the orientation of a moving object. The intention of this project is to design a first prototype towards the development of a ready-to-Lise wireless user interface called a “UbiStick” enabling basic gesture sensing and pointing at objects and people in a real environment as well as objects displayed on a screen. The UbiStiek deviee is implemented within a sensor network as an indoor tracking and location system. The location technology used is a hybrid radio frequency (RF) and ultrasonic signals (US) technology by which location is calculated by measuring the Time Differenee of Arrival (TDoA) of the two signals. The UbiStiek also incorporates motion sensors for device orientation information. The hybrid RF and US location technology is used because it is low cost, simple to design and has good aeeuraey in determining distanees. The fully functional UbiStick is to be implemented in a smart environment for use in a smart lecture room where the device can operate different instruments or teaching tools using gestures. The first prototype of the UbiStick system is therefore designed with this application aspect in mind so that in the future it can be further developed to obtain the fully functional UbiStick system. This report describes the research, design and implementation of the first prototype of the UbiStick user interface in ubiquitous computing.

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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