Finger identification for touch panel operation using tapping fluctuation

In recent years, user interface for touch input on mobile devices with touch panels has spread. In general, each target on a touch panel is designed to be finger size or larger to avoid selection mistake, however, such design slows down complex tasks. This paper presents a finger identification method for touch panel operations. When a user taps with a finger on the touch panel, the detected coordinates changes while the finger contacts with touch panel, and it differs in each finger. We call it tapping fluctuation, and we use it for finger identification. The proposed method has advantage that it doesn´t need additional device or hardware revision. By associating each finger to different function, more complex tasks become possible. We conducted an experiment of identifying to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. Additionally, we develop a filer application as an example with user interface using finger identification.