iWood: Makeable Vibration Sensor for Interactive Plywood

Abstract

iWood is interactive plywood that can sense vibration based on triboelectric effect. As a material, iWood survives common woodworking operations, such as sawing, screwing, and nailing and can be used to create furniture and artifacts. Things created using iWood inherit its sensing capability and can detect a variety of user input and activities based on their unique vibration patterns. Through a series of experiments and machine simulations, we carefully chose the size of the sensor electrodes, the type of triboelectric materials, and the bonding method of the sensor layers to optimize the sensitivity and fabrication complexity. The sensing performance of iWood was evaluated with 4 gestures and 12 daily activities carried out on a table, nightstand, and cutting board, all created using iWood. Our result suggested over 90% accuracies for activity and gesture recognition.