PaperPulse: An Integrated Approach to Fabricating Interactive Paper

Abstract

We present PaperPulse, a design and fabrication approach that enables designers to produce standalone interactive paper artifacts by augmenting them with electronics. With PaperPulse, users overlay visual designs with widgets provided in the design tool. PaperPulse provides three families of widgets, designed for smooth integration with paper, for a total of 20 different interactive components. We also contribute a demonstration and recording approach, Pulsation, that allows specifying interaction logic. Using the final design and the recorded Pulsation logic, PaperPulse generates layered electronic circuit designs, and code that can be deployed on a microcontroller. By following automatically generated assembly instructions, designers can seamlessly integrate the microcontroller and widgets in the final paper artifact.