We are fascinated by various peripheral gadgets that are used as the 'extension' of our smartphones:
headset, ring, glasses, wireless printer... Just to name a few.
But, are you tired of hassles in pairing them with your smartphone? For how many times
you have to gather the smartphone and peripheral gadgets, search for a gadget with your smartphone, select the gadget from a list of
random, similar-look names, and then input passkey to the smartphone?
RhythmLink, our pairing technique, removes all these hassles for you.
It requires a minimal input interface to work, which can be as simple as a single button.
As an one-time effort, you tap out on your smartphone a short 'personal' rhythm,
e.g., shave and a hair cut .
In pairing, you tap out the rhythm on the gadget you want to use.
Almost immediately, the gadget teams up with your smartphone, while the smartphone could still sit in your pocket.
And no worry - the pairing is secure, even more than that of Bluetooth.
RhythmLink was an internship project at Interaction Ecologies Group of Nokia Research Center Hollywood. The authors want to sincerely thank all NRC colleagues who provided invaluable help.