Action range communication (ARC): A digital architecture for user and device interaction

We propose a new networking interface (ARC) for electronic devices. This interface will unify display, user input, and data transmission into one information broadcasting structure. The concept is based on the dependence of action on vision. Because action and vision are consecutive steps, they should be considered together as one information transmission process. We propose a model to describe this digital information transmission. In this model, a new information carrier containing both image and data is broadcasted to a receiver through the user. The user acts like a network switch that selects information to receiver. On‐screen user input and short‐range data transmission represent such transmission but in different environments. The display function is also included by incorporating the “null” data concept. The display matrix can be converted into an information broadcaster, and the panel becomes a transceiver for ARC. This reduces the cost and leads to a simpler device architecture with only networking interfaces. The information carrier is a generalization of data carrier. A general information transmission is proposed to include both ARC and data communication. We also discuss new interactions based on ARC such as cyborg input.