A Ring-Shaped Hand Motion Sensor Based on Triboelectricity

Gesture recognition is one of the most important functions of human-computer interaction (HCI). In this regard, a self-powered finger ring hand motion sensor was proposed in the present study. To this end, a single sensing unit consisting of a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film, a polyethylene oxide (PEO) film and a spacer was constructed. Then the finger bending and stress were monitored through numerous sensing units. In order to increase the contact area, ordinary textile stripes were used on the PDMS film surface. Then finite element simulations were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed sensor under different conditions. The obtained results show that the sensor has promising charge transfer features. Moreover, it was found that the sensitivity of the sensing unit in the range of 0-7 N is 94.48 mV/N. Then the ring finger hand motion sensor was set on a single finger to simulate a mouse and distinguish click, double-click and click time. Accordingly, it was demonstrated that numbers, letters and phrases in the ASL sign language can be accurately identified even in similar cases with small differences.

Automated summary

A self-powered finger ring hand motion sensor was proposed in this study, which monitored finger bending and stress through multiple sensing units. The sensor demonstrated promising charge transfer features and could be used for gesture recognition and simulating mouse functions.