BitDrones: Towards Using 3D Nanocopter Displays as Interactive Self Levitating Programmable Matter
We present BitDrones, a toolbox for building interactive real reality 3D displays that use nano quadcopters as self levitating tangible building blocks. Our prototype is a first step towards interactive self levitating programmable matter, in which the user interface is represented using Catomic structures. We discuss three types of BitDrones: PixelDrones, equipped with an RGB LED and a small OLED display; ShapeDrones, augmented with an acrylic mesh spun over a 3D printed frame in a larger geometric shape; and DisplayDrones, fitted with a thin film 720p touchscreen. We present a number of unimanual and bimanual input techniques, including touch, drag, throw and resize of individual drones and compound models, as well as user interface elements such as self levitating cone trees, 3D canvases and alert boxes. We describe application scenarios and depict future directions towards creating high resolution self levitating programmable matter.
CHI