Ohmic-Sticker: Force-to-Motion Type Input Device that Extends Capacitive Touch Surface.

Abstract

We propose “Ohmic-Sticker”, a novel force-to-motion type input device to extend capacitive touch surfaces. It realizes various types of force-sensitive inputs simply by attaching on commercial capacitive touchpads or touchscreens. A simple force-sensitive-resistor (FSR)-based structure enables thin (less than 2 mm) form factors and battery-less operation. The applied force vector is detected as the leakage current from the corresponding touch surface electrodes by using “Ohmic-Touch” technology. Ohmic-Sticker can be used for adding force-sensitive interactions to touch surfaces, such as analog push buttons, the TrackPoint-like pointing devices, and full 6 DoF controllers for navigating virtual spaces. In this paper, we report a series of investigations for the design requirements of Ohmic-Sticker and some prototypes. We also conducted an experiment to evaluate the performance of Ohmic-Sticker as a pointing device.