Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
During verification of Sound Set 2, one bather observed that the music tempo
increased the more deeply he became engaged in the sound interaction. Prior to this,
the subjects had only been aware of the music tempo, not their rising heartbeats. The
experience of this subject, though, suggests that it is possible for a bather to notice
his physiological state through interactive sound information.
The Bathonify system was demonstrated at the IPSJ Interaction 2002 conference
in Tokyo, and also exhibited in a home equipment showroom in Osaka for two weeks
in February of 2006. It has also won several awards and earned praises as an enjoyable
system.
6.2.7
Bathonify Concluding Remarks
This section described the Bathonify system, for which the focus is the provision of a
ubiquitous computing, healthcare, and entertainment bath system environment with
interactive sonification tuned to bathing motions and vital signs. The system measures
the bathing state using sensors inside a hot water heater and an electrode attached
to a conventional Japanese bath system. Bathers can take baths in their customary
fashion because the sensors are embedded and hidden, and they can select from
various sound designs and adjust the sound volume as they like. This system can
also be used to express life log data, especially for bathing activities in everyday life.
6.3
TubTouch
6.3.1
System Overview and Design
TubTouch (Sakakibara et al.
2013
; Hirai et al.
2013
) provides an integrated user
interface and several interaction features in the bathtub for the control of various
equipment and applications. As illustrated in Fig.
6.8
capacitive touch sensors are
attached to the inside edge of the bathtub to enable bathers to interact by simply
touching the bathtub. A video projector installed above the bathtub projects virtual
buttons and/or a screen for applications over the touch sensors, shown in the picture on
the right side of Fig.
6.8
. In Japan, standardized bathroom systems are widespread
in homes, including houses, condominiums, and apartments. The bathrooms are
constructed from unit elements, such as wall, floor, ceiling, bathtub, and are relatively
easy to assemble and remove. The space inside the side of the bathtub can be accessed
by removing a side panel; resulting in easy installation of capacitive touch sensors,
shown in the picture on the left side of Fig.
6.8
. The space in the side of the bathtub
was designed specifically for additional equipment such as a Jacuzzi. The picture
on the left side of Fig.
6.8
also shows several electrodes on the upper inside edge
of the bathtub, and a sensor box containing a touch sensor controller board. This
arrangement means that TubTouch can be installed as an additional system in any
