Hands-Free Interaction Methods for Smart Home Control with Google Glass

Augmented reality glasses (AR glasses) provide their users with visual and sometimes also acoustic information without requiring their hands. This fact allows users to consume the information provided by AR glasses even in situations where they need their hands to perform an activity. However, if interaction with the AR glasses is also required, users will still need to use their hands most of the time. In order to prevent hindering the user in his or her actual activity, a well-designed human-machine interaction concept that does not involve the hands is desirable. One solution could be to develop interaction methods for AR glasses that do not involve the user's hands and to use the AR glasses not only as an output device but also as an input device. From those methods also people with physical limitation who rely on assistance systems, like a hand exoskeleton, could benefit. Therefore, we developed and evaluated alternative input methods without hands in assistive augmented reality (AR) contexts, in terms of accessibility. With 15 subjects we investigated 5 alternative interaction concepts for operating a smart TV without hands via a Google Glass. The results show that it is possible to develop hands-free input methods for the Google Glass that work quickly and reliably and achieve high user satisfaction. Thus, our user study also shows that it seems to be possible to use the Google Glass to control smart home and assistance systems, such as a hand exoskeleton.