FlowField and beyond: applying pressure-sensitive multi-point touchpad interaction

In this paper, we discuss a new hand-gesture-based application, FIowField, which explores the use of pressure-sensitive multi-point touchpad (multi-touch) interaction. FIowField allows participants to interact using their whole hand with a flow of circulating particles, providing visual and auditory feedback. Limitations of the raw data mapping used in FIowField motivated work on applying interpolation techniques to improve the data representation. Thus far, bicubic interpolation provides the most effective method for initial processing. We observed two factors limiting the quality of the representation: the spacing of the sensors, and the pressure-distributing property of the touchpad surface.