ClothFace: Battery-Free On-body Interface Platform for Future Human-Machine Interaction

Smooth communication between people and machines plays an important role in the intelligent environments of the future, where the best sides of both people and machines are to be exploited in the name of efficiency and flexibility. This requires a functional human-machine interface that allows the necessary control actions but does not require any use of robot-specific devices. In this paper, we further introduce a passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID)-based platform, which is an attractive solution for on-body interfaces, as it is passive and maintenance-free, does not require a line-of-sight to function, and has reading distances of several meters. The unique aspect of this study is the established fully textile-based battery-free touchpad for writing digits, which can be integrated into everyday clothing and worn on body. Further, the paper presents various use cases for the developed technology.