BREATHTURES: A First Step Towards Breathing Gestures as Distinct Input Modality

The use of breath as interaction modality has sparked some interest recently in HCI. Research in this field actively explored breathing interaction (e.g., guidance and feedback) in different contexts. So far, very little systems can be found that systematically use defined breathing gestures as distinct input modality. In this work, we describe the design, development and implementation of five distinct breathing gestures (BREATHTURES), that can be applied as defined input modality to interact with an application. We present a qualitative user study (n=7) focusing on usability and user experience of the developed BREATHTURES when applied in a game-like application. Results indicate an overall positive rating in terms of fun and usability. Some BREATHTURES were perceived harder to perform and to detect than others. Further iterations of our work will require refined BREATHTURE detection. Overall, our work demonstrates the design, implementation and application of pre-defined breathing gestures as distinct input modality.