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Computer science doctoral student Daniel Honrales demonstrates PropType, a patent-pending technology that overlays an augmented keyboard surface onto handheld objects.
Virtual keyboards are a frequent source of frustration for augmented reality (AR) users. The virtual surfaces are slow and error prone, and raising an arm to type on them may cause muscle strain referred to as “gorilla arm.”
To improve virtual-typing experiences, University of Texas at Dallas researchers have designed a novel interface that enables users to rework on a regular basis objects into typing surfaces inside an AR environment.
The patent-pending technology, called PropType, overlays an augmented keyboard surface onto a handheld object and might adapt to curved surfaces.
Student researchers have created a video demonstrating PropType getting used on surfaces akin to water bottles, coffee cups, books and soda cans.
Dr. Jin Ryong Kim
“By integrating objects already present within the user’s surroundings, PropType reimagines text input in AR, making a seamless connection between the physical and virtual worlds,” said Dr. Jin Ryong Kim, assistant professor of computer science within the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. “PropType capitalizes on the tactile feedback provided by the objects themselves, offering higher key confirmation and reducing reliance on visual cues.”
The technology provides an alternative choice to common AR typing solutions akin to external physical keyboards, which may disrupt a device-free immersive experience.
“PropType leverages the familiarity of handheld objects to supply a more intuitive and accessible alternative to traditional keyboards, particularly in mobile or hands-free scenarios where conventional input methods are impractical,” Kim said.
Researchers in Kim’s Multimodal Interaction Lab presented PropType and received a Best Paper Honorable Mention Award in April on the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, the world’s premier conference in human-computer interaction, held in Yokohama, Japan. They later showcased the work in September on the thirty eighth Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Busan, South Korea.
Developing PropType involved challenges akin to adapting the interface to different styles and sizes of objects. The researchers studied how 16 participants interacted with props to know grab postures and typing gestures. Then they developed custom keyboard layouts for various objects. The researchers included an editing tool that enables users to customize keyboard layouts and visual effects.
Kim’s research focuses on haptics, or touch and physical feedback in digital systems, which may include vibrations and warmth.
“Touch carries a variety of information; it’s one other type of communication that’s underexplored in virtual and augmented reality,” he said.
Kim and student researchers have received honors for other projects, including the Best Demo Award on the IEEE World Haptics Conference 2025 and a Best Demo Honorable Mention on the IEEE Haptics Symposium 2024 for his or her work on thermal masking and thermal-tactile integration.
Daniel Honrales uses tracking marker rigs, the objects on his fingers and attached to the mug, to capture movement on a virtual keyboard.
Thermal masking is a phenomenon that tricks the brain into feeling heat or cold in a particular spot on the body, regardless that the source of the warmth or cold is generated from a distinct location. For example, researchers place a heat actuator — a tool that produces heat — on a user’s arm and a tactile actuator, which produces vibrations, on the identical arm several inches from the warmth actuator. When researchers activate each actuators, the brain senses the warmth at each locations.
The researchers presented a paper on the topic on the 2024 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and created a video to reveal the technology.
“By delving into how tactile sensations can override thermal perceptions, we aim to create more immersive and responsive user interfaces,” Kim said. “Our work holds promise for revolutionizing applications in virtual reality, medical simulations and beyond to create experiences that feel almost tangible.”
Kim’s co-authors on the PropType article include Dr. Hyunjae Gil, a former postdoctoral researcher in computer science who now’s an assistant professor at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea; Iniyan Joseph BS’25; and Ashish Pratap, a pc science doctoral student. The work was supported by the South Korean government through a grant from the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation of South Korea.
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