AirTouch: 3D-printed Touch-Sensitive Objects Using Pneumatic Sensing2020

Abstract

(a) (b) (c) Figure 1: AirTouch augments 3D-printed objects to enable touch-sensitivity. It works by detecting the pressure change resulting from users blocking tiny air outlets fabricated into the objects. (a) Three active animal objects: each has touch points on its ear, nose, foot, and back. The same machine learning model works interchangeably with all three. (b) Structure inside the bunny, illustrated via computer rendering. The external solid object is shown as clear, while the internal hollow tubes are rendered in translucent blue. (c) The AirTouch-enabled bunny with interactive locations on the ear, nose, back and feet. When the user touches any of these locations, the respective label is displayed. ABSTRACT 3D printing technology can be used to rapidly prototype the look and feel of 3D objects. However, the objects produced are passive. There has been increasing interest in making these objects interactive, yet they often require assembling components or complex calibration. In this paper, we contribute AirTouch, a technique that enables designers to fabricate touch-sensitive objects with minimal assembly and calibration using pneumatic sensing. AirTouch-enabled objects are 3D printed as a single structure using a consumer-level 3D printer. AirTouch uses pre-trained machine learning models to identify interactions with fabricated objects, meaning that there is no calibration required once the object has completed printing. We evaluate our technique using fabricated objects with various geometries and touch sensitive locations, obtaining accuracies of at least 90% with 12 interactive locations.