Moving Beyond Weak Identifiers for Proxemic Interaction

Identification of people and their position is essential in the design of proxemic interactions. The smartphone often plays an important role in positioning systems, due to its mobility, computational power and sensory capabilities. Studies however show that perceived proximity to our phone is significantly closer than what is actually the case. This makes the smartphone a weak identifier for applications that need to track persons. With a focus on feasible interaction design, we present a concept and prototype of a platform, which seek to support proxemic interaction beyond weak identifiers. The concept is a lightweight, low-cost, platform, offering a high update-rate that in particular focuses on support for the identity, location and distance dimensions of proxemic interaction. An evaluation of the platform validates its potential use for proxemic interactions but also reveals challenges and limitations that need to be addressed.