Designing customized deformable input devices using simulated piezoelectric sensor responses

Abstract

Embodiments herein describe deformable controllers that rely on piezoelectric material embedded in the controllers to detect when the input device is being manipulated into a particular deformation or gesture. The computing system may perform different actions depending on which deformation is detected. The embodiments herein describe design techniques for optimizing the placement of the piezoelectric material in the controller to improve the accuracy of a mapping function that maps sensor responses of the material to different controller deformations. In one embodiment, the user specifies the different deformations of the controller she wishes to be recognized by the computing system (e.g., raising a leg, twisting a torso, squeezing a hand, etc.). The design optimizer uses the locations of the desired deformations to move the location of the piezoelectric material such that the sensor response of the material can be uniquely mapped to these locations.