Shape-changing interfaces are promising for users to change the physical properties of common objects. However, prevailing approaches of actuation devices require either professional equipment or materials that are not commonly accessible to non-professional users. In this work, we focus on the controllable soft actuators with inflatable structures because they are soft thus safe for human computer interaction. We propose a soft actuator design, called xBalloon, that is workable, inexpensive and easy-to-fabricate. It consists of daily materials including balloons and plastics and can realize bending actuation very effectively. For characterization, we fabricated xBalloon samples with different geometrical parameters and tested them regarding the bending performance and found the analytical model describing the relationship between the shape and the bending width. We then used xBalloons to animate a series of common objects and all can work satisfactorily. We further verified the user experience about the the fabrication and found that even those with no prior robotic knowledge can fabricate xBalloons with ease and confidence. Given all these advantages, we believe that xBalloon is an ideal platform for interaction design and entertainment applications.

中文翻译：

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xBalloon：带有气球塑料执行器的动画对象

变形界面有望让用户改变普通物体的物理属性。然而，致动装置的流行方法需要非专业用户通常无法获得的专业设备或材料。在这项工作中，我们专注于具有充气结构的可控软执行器，因为它们是软的，因此对人机交互是安全的。我们提出了一种称为 xBalloon 的软执行器设计，该设计可行、价格低廉且易于制造。它由气球和塑料等日常材料组成，可以非常有效地实现弯曲驱动。对于表征，我们制作了具有不同几何参数的 xBalloon 样品，并对其弯曲性能进行了测试，并找到了描述形状和弯曲宽度之间关系的分析模型。然后我们使用 xBalloons 为一系列常见对象设置动画，所有这些都可以令人满意地工作。我们进一步验证了有关制造的用户体验，发现即使是那些没有机器人知识的人也可以轻松自信地制造 xBalloon。鉴于所有这些优势，我们相信 xBalloon 是交互设计和娱乐应用的理想平台。我们进一步验证了有关制造的用户体验，发现即使是那些没有机器人知识的人也可以轻松自信地制造 xBalloon。鉴于所有这些优势，我们相信 xBalloon 是交互设计和娱乐应用的理想平台。我们进一步验证了有关制造的用户体验，发现即使是那些没有机器人知识的人也可以轻松自信地制造 xBalloon。鉴于所有这些优势，我们相信 xBalloon 是交互设计和娱乐应用的理想平台。