LightGuide: Projected Visualizations for Hand Movement Guidance

CHI '12 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |

Published by ACM

DOI

LightGuide is a system that explores a new approach to gesture guidance where we project guidance hints directly on a user’s body. These projected hints guide the user in completing the desired motion with their body part which is particularly useful for performing movements that require accuracy and proper technique, such as during exercise or physical therapy. Our proof-of-concept implementation consists of a single low-cost depth camera and projector and we present four novel interaction techniques that are focused on guiding a user’s hand in mid-air. Our visualizations are designed to incorporate both feedback and feedforward cues to help guide users through a range of movements. We quantify the performance of LightGuide in a user study comparing each of our on-body visualizations to hand animation videos on a computer display in both time and accuracy. Exceeding our expectations, participants performed movements with an average error of 21.6mm, nearly 85% more accurately than when guided by video.

LightGuide: Projected Visualizations for Hand Movement Guidance

When performing complex gestures that require a specific form or technique, such as an exercise or playing an instrument, we use resources such as visual diagrams or videos to communicate concepts like posture, movement and speed of motion. Without incremental and real-time feedback such as those we receive from an instructor, interpreting and following a set of instructions can be a challenge. LightGuide is a new approach to gesture guidance, where digital hints are projected directly on a user's body. The techniques are focused on guiding a user's hand freely, providing feedback and feed forward queues to help guide users through a range of movements. The queues provide collocated instructions for the movement, along with the body part that is moving on the desired path.