Universal earphones: earphones with automatic side and shared use detection

We present universal earphones that use both a proximity sensor and a skin conductance sensor and we demonstrate several implicit interaction techniques they achieve by automatically detecting the context of use. The universal earphones have two main features. The first involves detecting the left and right sides of ears, which provides audio to either ear, and the second involves detecting the shared use of earphones and this provides mixed stereo sound to both earphones. These features not merely free users from having to check the left and right sides of earphones, but they enable them to enjoy sharing stereo audio with other people. Author Keywords Earphones, implicit interaction, intelligent interface. ACM Classification Keywords H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI): Miscellaneous.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2012
• Where: IUI
• Authors: Kohei Matsumura, Daisuke Sakamoto, Masahiko Inami, Takeo Igarashi
• Keywords: Intelligent Interface, Interaction Techniques, IUI 2012, Proximity Sensor, Software Engineering