Hairware: Conductive Hair Extensions as a Capacitive Touch Input Device

Abstract

Our aim is to use our own bodies as an interactive platform. We are trying to move away from traditional wearable devices worn on clothes and accessories where gestures are noticeable and remind cyborg looking. We follow Beauty Technology paradigm that uses the body's surface as an interactive platform by integrating technology into beauty products applied directly to one's skin, fingernails and hair. Thus, we propose Hairware, a Beauty Technology Prototype that connects chemically metalized hair extensions to a microcontroller turning it into an input device for triggering different objects. Hairware acts as a capacitive touch sensor that detects touch variations on hair and uses machine learning algorithms in order to recognize user's intention. In this way, we add a new functionality to hair extensions, becoming a seamless device that recognizes auto-contact behaviors that no observers would identify. This work presents the design of Hairware's hardware and software implementation. In this demo, we show Hairware acting as a controller for smartphones and computers.