Cord Input: An Intuitive, High-Accuracy, Multi-Degree-Of-Freedom Input Method For Mobile Devices

A cord, although simple in form, has many interesting physical affordances that make it powerful as an input device. Not only can a length of cord be grasped in different locations, but also pulled, twisted and bent four distinct and expressive dimensions that could potentially act in concert. Such an input mechanism could be readily integrated into headphones, backpacks, and clothing. Once grasped in the hand, a cord can be used in an eyes-free manner to control mobile devices, which often feature small screens and cramped buttons. In this note, we describe a proof-of-concept cord-based sensor, which senses three of the four input dimensions we propose. In addition to a discussion of potential uses, we also present results from our preliminary user study. The latter sought to compare the targeting performance and selection accuracy of different cord-based input modalities. We conclude with brief set of design recommendations drawn upon results from our study.