A cord has many
physical affordances that make it powerful as an input
device. Not only can a length of cord be grasped in different
locations, but also pulled and twisted – three distinct dimensions that could potentially act in concert.
Such a device could be readily integrated into headphones, backpacks, and clothing.
Once the cord is grasped in the hand, it can be used to control mobile devices, which often
feature small screens and cramped buttons. With the help of
Chris Harrison , I built such a cord input device which can sense
how it is being twisted, bent, pulled, and where it is being touched. I ran an evaluation
comparing each input dimension and created design recommendations baseed on my results. Paper accepted to ACM CHI 2010.
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