NasalBreathInput: A Hands-Free Input Method by Nasal Breath Gestures using a Glasses Type Device

Abstract

Research on hands-free input methods has been actively conducted. However, most of the previous methods are difficult to use at any time in daily life due to using speech sounds or body movements. In this study, in order to realize a hands-free input method based on nasal breath using wearable devices, we propose a method for recognizing nasal breath gestures, using piezoelectric elements placed on the nosepiece of a glasses-type device. In the proposed method, nasal vibrations generated by nasal breath are acquired as sound data from the devices. Next, the breath pattern is recognized based on the factors of breath count, time interval, and intensity. We implemented a prototype system for initial evaluation. The evaluation results for eight subjects showed that the proposed method can recognize eight types of nasal breath gestures with 0.89% of F value. Our study provides the first wearable sensing technology that uses nasal breathing for hands-free input.