TOMURA: A Mountable Hand-shaped Interface for Versatile Interactions

Abstract

We introduce TOMURA, a mountable hand-shaped interface for conducting a wide range of interactions by leveraging the versatility of the human hand. TOMURA can be mounted in any number of locations and orientations on the body and environment. By combining freedom in mounting with the versatile expressivity of the human hand, TOMURA enables interactions that integrate elements of shape-changing interfaces and wearable robots. For example, TOMURA can be worn to the wrist to assist in grasping and to enable haptic interactions with a remote operator. By placing TOMURA on the desk, it can be used as a physical avatar representing a remote user’s hand during a video meeting. We illustrated TOMURA’s design space and demonstrated the feasibility of our concept by implementing a prototype and employing it in several application scenarios. We then discussed the possibilities and limitations of the prototype based on user feedback.