Displayskin: Design and Evaluation of a Pose-Aware Wrist-Worn Device

Abstract

The recent surge in wrist-worn devices has stirred an increasing interest in wearable technology, however, reactions to these devices are split and the use-case of these devices is still unclear. This thesis explores affordances and opportunities offered by wrist-worn devices through the design and implementation of DisplaySkin. We approach the topic of wrist-worn displays by initially presenting a historical analysis of the development of the wristwatch. Based upon this analysis we present a series of design guidelines: we suggest that wrist-worn devices should be designed for non-focal attention, supply the user with contextual information, accommodate glance based interactions and consider the user’s body pose. Implementing these guidelines, we built DisplaySkin, a wrist-worn, pose aware device. DisplaySkin features a large flexible electrophoretic display and advanced sensing capabilities, allowing it to orient content towards the users face, independently of their body-pose. This design approach takes both new technological opportunities, as well as the cultural history of the wristwatch into account. To evaluate DisplaySkin, we conducted two experimental studies. The first study investigates the effects of display size on a scrolling task, demonstrating that, even if the input area is kept constant, users are able to complete tasks faster using a larger display. In our second experiment we investigate the pose-aware display, demonstrating that using a pose-aware display improves reaction times when acknowledging notifications on a wrist-worn display.