In one example, a method for detecting input can include detecting a capacitive pattern from a physical object and detecting that the physical object is a passive physical object. The method can also include determining a plurality of characteristics corresponding to the passive physical object based on the capacitive pattern, wherein the plurality of characteristics comprise a type of the physical object and a capability of the physical object. Additionally, the method can include modifying an application manager to detect input from the passive physical object based on the plurality of characteristics and modifying a user interface setting detected from the capacitive pattern.