Tech-note: Strain-based User Interface Using a Wooden Balance Beam

This paper proposes a basic technology that utilizes natural objects in the environment and uses them as a simple interface. We focus on an interface that uses a small wooden balance beam. Its input is the movement of the user´s center of gravity and the balance on the beam. The user controls the interface by hopping onto it, walking back and forth, jumping on it or leaning his body in a direction. Strain sensors are attached to the beam, and by using the sensor data, approximate position of user´s center of gravity and change of the balance can be estimated. The interface was applied to an interactive system, which is a combination of a balance beam and computer graphics.