MagGetz: customizable passive tangible controllers on and around conventional mobile devices

Abstract

This paper proposes user-customizable passive control widgets, called MagGetz, which enable tangible interaction on and around mobile devices without requiring power or wireless connections. This is achieved by tracking and ana-lyzing the magnetic field generated by controllers attached on and around the device through a single magnetometer, which is commonly integrated in smartphones today. The proposed method provides users with a broader interaction area, customizable input layouts, richer physical clues, and higher input expressiveness without the need for hardware modifications. We have presented a software toolkit and several applications using MagGetz.