Digitally Enhanced Home Activities with u-Textures

This paper introduces a novel way that allows non-expert users to create smart surroundings. To establish this goal, we have developed a panel type smart material called “u-Texture”, which has a built-in computer and sensors. u-Textures can be connected to each other to form various furniture that support human home activities. The unique point of u-Textures is the self-organizable function, changing its own behavior autonomously by recognizing its location, its inclination, and surrounding environment by assembling u-Textures physically. This paper describes the applications for u-Textures that we are planning to demonstrate.