uwb explorations

The first step was an exploration of device to device interactions in their simplest form, influenced by everyday actions like turning a dial or waving to a friend. This helped us design a gestural language and framework that feels natural.

As you approach, the device wakes up and becomes Aware. We can then Engage with it by tapping or pointing, before gesturing to perform an Action. These interaction states allow for a modular framework that reduces misinterpretations of intent.

Project completed at:

Google ATAP

Collaborators:

Henry Newton-Dunn (Manager)

Responsibilities:

Interaction Design

UX Frameworking

Front-end prototyping

Visual communication

Timeframe:

2022-23

We built a prototype that features UWB, an IMU, and BLE, so that we can test these interactions and understand how the experience feels. Focussing on phone-to-device interactions, we explored dynamic spatial notifications and a series of gestures.

The UX building blocks allow us to perform discrete actions like turning things on/off, continuous actions like turning volume up/down, and pushing/pulling actions like transferring media, or momentarily using a cloud based app.

By combining these gestural building blocks, we can create intuitive interactions for specific contexts and environments, such as literally picking and dropping media from your laptop to your tv, or opening your apartment door by tapping and twisting like a key.

At Google ATAP we explored the use of UWB (UltraWideBand) radar to unlock rich spatial gestures and notifications so you can control your devices intuitively, instead of having to dig through your apps just to turn on a light..

We've tested this framework in a number of scenarios, like in home and retail environments. The gif below shows an experiment from Google ATAP Japan where you can twist and turn your garment in front of the mirror to learn more about the materials, brand, features etc.

The vision for this platform intends to improve the experience of interacting with digital services in the home and out in the world. By building an intuitive gestural language upon a spatial framework, we can create delightful interactions that go beyond the phone screen.

To allow for anyone to create their own interactive spaces, triggers and experiences, we designed an authoring app to demarcate zones, create points of interest, and curate the notification information.