EarXplore: An Open Research Database on Earable Interaction

TL;DR

EarXplore is an interactive online database that organizes and visualizes research on earable interaction, aiming to unify fragmented studies and support future innovations in the field.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, question-driven platform with multi-view exploration and community updates to facilitate earable interaction research.

Findings

Supports tailored exploration and filtering of studies

Identifies research gaps and opportunities

Evolves with community contributions

Abstract

Interaction with sensor-augmented earphones, referred to as earables or hearables, represents a major area of earable research. Proximate to the head and reachable by hand, earables support diverse interactions and can detect multiple inputs simultaneously. Yet this diversity has fragmented research, complicating the tracking of developments. To address this, we introduce EarXplore, a curated, interactive online database on earable interaction research. Designed through a question-centered approach that guided the development of 33 criteria applied to annotate 118 studies and the structure of the platform, EarXplore comprises four integrated views: a Tabular View for structured exploration, a Graphical View for visual overviews, a Similarity View for conceptual links, and a Timeline View for scholarly trends. We demonstrate how the platform supports tailored exploration and filtering, and we leverage its capabilities to discuss gaps and opportunities. With community update mechanisms, EarXplore evolves with the field, serving as a living resource to accelerate future research