Calico: Relocatable On-cloth Wearables with Fast, Reliable, and Precise Locomotion

TL;DR

Calico is a compact, relocatable wearable robot system with precise locomotion capabilities, enabling on-body interaction and sensing for applications like dance training, supported by technical evaluations and user studies.

Contribution

We introduce Calico, a novel on-cloth robotic system with a track mechanism for reliable, fast, and precise movement along the body, expanding wearable interaction possibilities.

Findings

Calico achieves high accuracy in on-body navigation.

User studies show positive perception of Calico in dance training.

Technical evaluations demonstrate system reliability and responsiveness.

Abstract

We explore Calico, a miniature relocatable wearable system with fast and precise locomotion for on-body interaction, actuation and sensing. Calico consists of a two-wheel robot and an on-cloth track mechanism or "railway," on which the robot travels. The robot is self-contained, small in size, and has additional sensor expansion options. The track system allows the robot to move along the user's body and reach any predetermined location. It also includes rotational switches to enable complex routing options when diverging tracks are presented. We report the design and implementation of Calico with a series of technical evaluations for system performance. We then present a few application scenarios, and user studies to understand the potential of Calico as a dance trainer and also explore the qualitative perception of our scenarios to inform future research in this space.