Designing Physical Interactions with Triboelectric Material Sensing

Physical interactions in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) provide immersive ways for people to engage with technology. However, designers face challenges in integrating physical computing and modeling when designing physical interactions. We explore triboelectric material sensing, a promising technology that addresses these challenges, though its use within the design community remains underexplored. To bridge this gap, we develop a toolkit consisting of triboelectric material pairs, a mechanism taxonomy, a signal processing tool, and computer program templates. We introduce this toolkit to designers in two workshops, where reflections on the design process highlight its effectiveness and inspire innovative interaction designs. Our work contributes valuable resources and knowledge to the design community, making triboelectric sensing more accessible and fostering creativity in physical interaction design.