OpenCapSense: A rapid prototyping toolkit for pervasive interaction using capacitive sensing

TLDR

Capacitive sensing enables unobtrusive user interfaces by measuring proximity or dielectric properties, and when combined across many sensors it supports in‑air gesture recognition, location tracking, and fluid‑level sensing. OpenCapSense is a highly flexible open‑source toolkit that lets researchers rapidly prototype new pervasive user interfaces with minimal effort. The toolkit delivers high‑temporal‑resolution sensing at update rates up to 1 kHz and spatial resolution ranging from 1 mm at close proximity to about 1 cm beyond 35 cm.

Abstract

Capacitive sensing allows the creation of unobtrusive user interfaces that are based on measuring the proximity to objects or recognizing their dielectric properties. Combining the data of many sensors, applications such as in-the-air gesture recognition, location tracking or fluid-level sensing can be realized. We present OpenCapSense, a highly flexible open-source toolkit that enables researchers to implement new types of pervasive user interfaces with low effort. The toolkit offers a high temporal resolution with sensor update rates up to 1 kHz. The typical spatial resolution varies between one millimeter at close object proximity and around one centimeter at distances of 35cm or above.