Dynamic Derm: Body Surface Deformation Display for Real-World Embodied Interactions

Abstract

The body surface is an essential interface that dynamically reflects states inside and outside the body. To realize a computer mediated embodied interaction, focusing on its characteristic as a visual display, we propose dynamically intervening in the shape of the body surface. In this paper, we define the design requirement for a system that deforms the body surface, organize the design space, and build a prototype. Dynamic Derm is a prototype that dynamically deforms clothes by pushing them up from inside, where and each module can present two degrees of freedom in translation. We investigated the spatial accuracy of the system, the actuator response under load and a clothes deformation as a basic technical evaluation of the system. We also designed several presentation scenarios based on the design space, and conducted a qualitative evaluation of the adequacy of their representations.