Implications for Design of Personal Mobility Devices with Balance-Based Natural User Interfaces

Abstract

In this paper, we present a set of guidelines for designing personal mobility devices (PMDs) with body balance exclusively as input modality. Using an online survey, focus group and design workshop, we designed several PMD prototypes that used a natural user interface (NUI) and balance as its only form of user input. Based on these designs we constructed a physical and functional PMD prototype, which was tested using a usability test to explore how the balance interface should be designed. In conclusion, we discuss whether the guidelines from the literature could apply when designing PMDs and present a set of implications for the design of PMDs with balance-based NUIs based on both the guidelines and our own findings.