Converting Tatamis into Touch Sensors by Measuring Capacitance

In traditional Japanese-style rooms, tatamis are used as flooring material. People are in continuous contact with the floors. Therefore, we can measure our daily activities through the floors. In this study, we propose a method of converting tatamis into touch sensors by measuring capacitance to obtain information related to the floors. This system detects contact with people by placing conductive sheets under the surface of the tatami and measuring the capacitance that changes when people's bodies come into close proximity. To evaluate the system, we conducted a user study (N = 5) about gesture recognition with 12 hand gestures and obtained an average identification accuracy of 93.5% (SD = 2.1%).