AirSketcher: Direct air instruction techniques for electric fans

In this paper, AirSketcher, a novel electric fan that enables the user to directly control the directions and paths in which wind is blown, is presented. AirSketcher is a robotic fan with two servomotors to control its orientation and an embedded camera. We introduce three techniques that allow the user to control and design wind direction and path: 1) AirWand: Drawing the wind path by moving visual markers through the air in front of the fan, 2) AirCanvas: Drawing the wind path on a tablet display that shows the camera view, and 3) AirFlag: Putting control markers in the environment to specify the manner in which wind is to be blown to the areas where the markers are placed. These techniques are described in detail, and their strengths and limitations are discussed.