EMI Spy: Harnessing electromagnetic interference for low-cost, rapid prototyping of proxemic interaction

— We present a wearable system that uses ambient electromagnetic interference (EMI) as a signature to identify electronic devices and support proxemic interaction. We designed a low cost tool, called EMI Spy, and a software environment for rapid deployment and evaluation of ambient EMI-based interactive infrastructure. EMI Spy captures electromagnetic interference and delivers the signal to a user’s mobile device or PC through either the device’s wired audio input or wirelessly using Bluetooth. The wireless version can be worn on the wrist, communicating with the user’s mobile device in their pocket. Users are able to train the system in less than 1 second to uniquely identify displays in a 2m radius around them, as well as to detect pointing at a distance and touching gestures on the displays in real-time. The combination of a low cost EMI logger and an open source machine learning tool kit allows developers to quickly prototype proxemic, touch-to-connect, and gestural interac...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2015
• Where: BSN
• Authors: Nan Zhao, Gershon Dublon, Nicholas Gillian, Artem Dementyev, Joseph A. Paradiso
• Keywords: BSN 2015, Sensor Networks