Eliciting tangible and gestural user interactions with and on a cooking pan

Embedding computational capabilities in everyday objects enables novel interaction concepts that are seamlessly integrated in users' everyday tasks. We conducted an elicitation study to investigate how subjects use a pan to control functions related to cooking. The primary focus of the study was to identify whether the elicited proposals tend towards tangible (i.e. moving or rotating the pan) or gestural (i.e. tapping or swiping on the pan handle) interactions. We present an analysis of over 500 interaction proposals from 20 subjects. While priming and used pan handle did not affect the number or type of elicited interactions, we found statistically significant differences for different types of task. While pan interaction is suitable for controlling cook top temperature, subjects have a rejecting attitude towards using a pan to interact with the cooker hood or a digital cookbook. We derive recommendations for when and how to interact with a pan during the cooking process.