Motion sensing interface for the visualization of multidimensional data using inertial measurement

• Main Author: Hussaini Safiullah
• Other Authors: Goh Wooi Boon
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Computer science and engineering::Information systems
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/43996
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

3-dimensional (3D) motion-based interfaces are the next step in the evolution of human input devices for the computer, with applications like interactive 3D visualization and motion/trajectory control for robots providing the motivation for their development. Such interfaces are also being developed by the industry for their potential as game controllers. Even portable devices like cell phones are now fitted with the sensors for motion-based human interaction. This document describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a portable inertial measurement based motion tracking and visualization device (Inertial Input Measurement and Visualization Unit or IMVU) that acts as a tangible interface translating physical six degrees-of-freedom (DOF) to corresponding motion in a 3D virtual environment. This work investigated two main sensor configurations, namely a gyro-free approach that used four 3-axis accelerometers and a conventional inertial measurement approach that used a gyro-accelerometer configuration. Issues such as placement of inertial sensors, the conditioning and interpretation of their outputs were discussed. Based on the characteristics of the inertial sensing systems, appropriate interaction designs for interactive exploratory visualization were proposed. User study and evaluation were conducted for both designs and the results reveal that the gyro-accelerometer configuration provided superior performance in terms of controllability and ease of use. The study also shows that training on the novel tangible interface produced noticeable improvement in the user’s performance in tasks such as controlling the 3D orientation and position of virtual objects in 3D space.