TelekineticDealer: Contactless Card Manipulation Using Airborne Ultrasound—Evaluation of Card Actuation Performance

We present TelekineticDealer, a method for acoustically manipulating cards placed on a flat platform. Strong airborne ultrasoud can apply a steady force on objects through the air. Using Phased arrays of ultrasonic transducers, which focuses ultrasonic waves, cards made of paper can be actuated without any optional parts. In addition, cards larger than the ultrasonic wavelength can be stably manipulated by introducing a support plane. Targeted card motions are divided into in-plane motions such as translation and rotation, and out-of-plane motions such as flip, stand, and vibration. The manipulation methods are described and evaluated separately for each motion. For example, the gradual standing up of the card was achieved at 10°/s and the translation of the card at 31 mm/s. At the same time, several limitations were found, including the shape and weight of the card and device aperture. Our method is expected to be applied to card game assistants using physical cards, displays for paper cutouts, and other tangible user interfaces.