An Intuitive Textile Input Controller

Abstract

When thinking of textile interfaces, these are often imagined as being integrated into clothing. While this is the most prominent use of fabric, we present a standalone interface that builds on the natural set of interactions a piece of fabric affords, and that is feasible for industrial production. By integrating stitched patterns made of conductive thread into a square piece of fabric, we are able to sense established connections within this pattern and map these to a model how the cloth is folded. An integrated microcontroller tracks these connections and communicates them as two-dimensional continuous value changes to a host application. We present the technical construction of our prototype, a particular clip-on technique to establish the connection between fabric and electronics, and first insights into recognizing different grip gestures.