GUI Robots
In this work, we explore opportunities for bringing tangible input and haptic output to desktop GUI applications by addressing two challenges. First, we address the lack of tangible input devices by repurposing an existing technology, that of educational and toy robots such as Sphero, Wonder Workshop’s Dash, and Parrot’s AR Drone. These robots are inexpensive (often less than $100 USD) and support connecting to PCs via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Most importantly, these robots contain sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes that enable them to be repurposed as input devices, and actuators that can be used to provide haptic feedback. Second, we address the lack of software support for tangible input and haptic output by enabling our tangible input devices to be paired with existing applications without changing the underlying code, through a combination of input event emulation, GUI automation, and custom application APIs.
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