StructureSense: Inferring Constructive Assembly Structures from User Behaviors

Recent advancements in object-tracking technologies can turn mundane constructive assemblies into Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) media. Users rely on instructions or their own creativity to build both permanent and temporary structures out of such objects. However, most existing object-tracking technologies focus on tracking structures as monoliths, making it impossible to infer and track the user's assembly process and the resulting structures. Technologies that can track the assembly process often rely on specially fabricated assemblies, limiting the types of objects and structures they can track. Here, we present StructureSense, a tracking system based on passive UHF-RFID sensing that infers constructive assembly structures from object motion. We illustrated StructureSense in two use cases (as guided instructions and authoring tool) on two different constructive sets (wooden lamp and Jumbo Blocks), and evaluated system performance and usability. Our results showed the feasibility of using StructureSense to track mundane constructive assembly structures.