ForceClicks: Enabling Efficient Button Interaction with Single Finger Touch

ForceClicks is a novel touch button input technique for consecutive clicking which incorporates touch force sensors. From force data of a single continuous touch over time, ForceClicks detects peaks and generates discrete clicks. Compared to typical button interaction, this is effective in a sense that consecutive clicks do not require finger positional movements. Additionally, stable force over a certain time threshold can trigger an alternate state, long press, and can be mapped to other actions. The usability of ForceClicks has been evaluated in terms of a) scattering level and b) efficiency. Results suggest higher stability than typical touch, especially when the task requires visual engagement on remote content. The relatively scatter-free characteristic of ForceClicks allows it to be applied on rapid clicking while gaming, and reduce of visual dedication allows easier control of external devices, and two applications, a shooting game and a number picker, are presented for demonstration.