Plush Toys with Arrays of Textile-based Sensors for Interaction Detection
Deepak Ganesan, Ph.D. and Trisha Andrew, Ph.D.
• Smart plush toys for interaction detection
• Capable of capturing a range of complex interactions between the plush toy and its end-user
• Built-in flexible and light weight non-rigid sensors
• Effective and low power-consumption machine learning algorithm for both local and remote processing of toy-user interactions
• High spatial resolution of the interactions
This invention provides smart plush toys for fine-grained sensing and interaction detection. Each plush toy incorporates an array of textile-based pressure sensors that can be located beneath an outer fabric layer of the plush toy. The sensors can maintain a natural and flexible feel of fabric such that even at the locations of the sensors the toy can maintain a plush and soft feel while still allowing for dense spatial sensing coverage of the toy for more robust detection of interaction between a user and the toy.
Dr. Deepak Ganesan is a Professor in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst. His recent work includes the development of novel wearable technologies such as low-power eye trackers to monitor health signals, and robust detection of important health targets such as drug use, smoking, and over-eating. Dr. Trisha Andrew is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UMass Amherst. Her research team builds textile electronics using a vapor deposition process, which allows for monolithic integration of electronic circuits onto flexible textile substrates.
Available for Licensing and/or Sponsored Research
UMA 22-051
Patent Pending
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