MagTouch: Robust Finger Identification for a Smartwatch Using a Magnet Ring and a Built-in Magnetometer

Completing tasks on smartwatches often requires multiple gestures due to the small size of the touchscreens and the lack of sufficient number of touch controls that are easily accessible with a finger. We propose to increase the number of functions that can be triggered with the touch gesture by enabling a smartwatch to identify which finger is being used. We developed MagTouch, a method that uses a magnetometer embedded in an off-the-shelf smartwatch. It measures the magnetic field of a magnet fixed to a ring worn on the middle finger. By combining the measured magnetic field and the touch location on the screen, MagTouch recognizes which finger is being used. The tests demonstrated that MagTouch can differentiate among the three fingers used to make contacts at a success rate of 95.03%.