The IWave system was developed for General Motors as the capstone design project for my Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction. Our task was to investigate the use of natural communication methods (i.e. gestures) for in-vehicle interfaces.

In the first phase of the project, we studied the behavior of drivers through the Contextual Inquiry process, paying particular attention to how they interacted with the information systems in their cars. We also conducted a literature review to investigate the state of the art in gesture research.

We designed and prototyped a system for navigation and music using a heads-up display and gesture recognition. We produced 12 design iterations, incorporating results from over 90 user tests and ranging from rapid paper prototypes to a fully interactive system integrated with a driving simulator.

Our final system used visual cues to help users learn gesture commands, and provided gesture-like feedback for navigation.

We performed informal comparison tests between our interface and an after-market radio. Users drove more safely using our gesture-based interface, and reported higher levels of satisfaction.