Hygienic, usable, engaging public mid-air interactions

This Knowledge Transfer Partnership project between Ultraleap Ltd and Brunel University deploys insights and data from pioneering behavioural research to drive design innovation and build hygienic, user-friendly and engaging ‘mid-air’ touchless interactions with multisensory haptic feedback on public signage and kiosks.  

The KTP explores three areas:

1. Design guidelines. Field studies will quantify behavioural responses that the public has towards a completely new form of display interface that is touchless and hygienic. This will steer product design through data-driven interface design guidelines and insight.

2. Product scalability by empowering content creators. A key to unlocking licensing revenue is through customer independence in creating content. This allows a value chain to be created where content creators (e.g. digital agencies) design novel interactive experiences for their customers. While Ultraleap currently provides design and software development consultancy services to customers, this is resource-limited by personnel availability. The KTP will unlock new license revenue by designing tools that enable customers to build interactive content that is effective, usable, and engaging.

3. Future product innovation. By exploiting a deep behavioural understanding of people interacting in public spaces, the KTP will inform new use-cases and technology leadership. This will drive future product development by thinking beyond just replacing 2D touchscreen interactions but rather developing IP for next-generation 3D multisensory interactions.

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Dr Mark Perry - Interdisciplinary ‘user studies’ researcher, focused on human-computer interaction and computer supported co-operative work. Extensive experience managing research projects, investigating and designing mobile, ubiquitous, distributed and collaborative technologies from a user-centred perspective. Leading research projects as Principal and Co-investigator Investigator. Experienced educator in Computer Science, teaching across a range of topics and ability levels for over 25 years, and contributor to QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Computing (2022). Research community building, including reviewing and committee work, ACM CHI Associate Chair 2007, 2009, 2012-14, Subcommittee Chair 2010 and 2015, and Technical Programme Chair, 2018. ACM SIGCHI Executive Committee member (2019-21). Senior committee member, MobileHCI 2012. Senior member of the ACM. Previous holder of the Royal Society Kan Tong Po International Fellowship (2018). 

Related Research Group(s)

Human Computer Interaction - Investigating ways in which humans and computers can interact through intuitive interface design, understanding of human factors and multimedia.

Project last modified 12/10/2023