Exploring the Potential of Gestures for Controlling Doors and Windows in Smart Homes

Abstract: This paper explores the potential of gesture interaction as an alternative control concept for doors, windows and sliding systems in smart homes. In a first step, a technical prototype was built that enables to open and close door and window elements with a hand-swiping gesture. In a second step, a user study with N = 95 participants was conducted to explore the perceived usefulness of the developed solution using a questionnaire with 24 items. The results showed that 78 percent of the participants liked the concept of contactless gesture control of doors, windows and sliding systems. The reluctance of the remaining group could be traced back to a missing experience with smart control concepts (e.g., voice assistants) (t-test: Spearman’s r_s = .27, p = .044) and the belief that gestures are hard to remember (chi-square test: α < .01, p = .007). The study also confirmed that the implemented control concept and gestures were perceived as natural and intuitively understandable.

Keywords: gesture control, smart home, automation, human, computer interaction, user survey