4 research outputs found
Challenges in mobile multi-device ecosystems
BACKGROUND Coordinated multi-display environments from the desktop, second-screen to gigapixel display walls are increasingly common. Personal and intimate mobile and wearable devices such as head-mounted displays, smartwatches, smartphones and tablets are rarely part of such multi-device ecosystems. METHODS We conducted a literature research and an expert survey to identify challenges in mobile multi-device ecosystems. RESULTS We present grounded challenges relevant for the design, development and use of mobile multi-device environments as well as opportunities for future research. While our surveys indicated that a large number of challenges have been identified, there seems to be little agreement among experts on the importance of individual challenges. CONCLUSION By presenting the identified challenges, we contribute to a better understanding about factors that impede the creation and use of mobile multi-device ecosystems and hope to contribute to shaping the research agenda on interacting with those systems.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
A comprehensive framework for the rapid prototyping of ubiquitous interaction
In the interaction between humans and computational systems, many advances have
been made in terms of hardware (e.g., smart devices with embedded sensors and
multi-touch surfaces) and software (e.g., algorithms for the detection and tracking of
touches, gestures and full body movements). Now that we have the computational
power and devices to manage interactions between the physical and the digital world,
the question is鈥攚hat should we do? For the Human-Computer Interaction research
community answering to this question means to materialize Mark Weiser鈥檚 vision of
Ubiquitous Computing.
In the desktop computing paradigm, the desktop metaphor is implemented by a graphical
user interface operated via mouse and keyboard. Users are accustomed to employing artificial
control devices whose operation has to be learned and they interact in an environment
that inhibits their faculties. For example the mouse is a device that allows movements
in a two dimensional space, thus limiting the twenty three degrees of freedom of the
human鈥檚 hand. The Ubiquitous Computing is an evolution in the history of computation:
it aims at making the interface disappear and integrating the information processing into
everyday objects with computational capabilities. In this way humans would no more
be forced to adapt to machines but, instead, the technology will harmonize with the
surrounding environment. Conversely from the desktop case, ubiquitous systems make
use of heterogeneous Input/Output devices (e.g., motion sensors, cameras and touch
surfaces among others) and interaction techniques such as touchless, multi-touch, and
tangible. By reducing the physical constraints in interaction, ubiquitous technologies
can enable interfaces that endow more expressive power (e.g., free-hand gestures) and,
therefore, such technologies are expected to provide users with better tools to think,
create and communicate.
It appears clear that approaches based on classical user interfaces from the desktop
computing world do not fit with ubiquitous needs, for they were thought for a single user
who is interacting with a single computing systems, seated at his workstation and looking
at a vertical screen. To overcome the inadequacy of the existing paradigm, new models
started to be developed that enable users to employ their skills effortlessly and lower
the cognitive burden of interaction with computational machines. Ubiquitous interfaces
are pervasive and thus invisible to its users, or they become invisible with successive
interactions in which the users feel they are instantly and continuously successful.
All the benefits advocated by ubiquitous interaction, like the invisible interface and a more
natural interaction, come at a price: the design and development of interactive systems
raise new conceptual and practical challenges. Ubiquitous systems communicate with the real world by means of sensors, emitters and actuators. Sensors convert real world
inputs into digital data, while emitters and actuators are mostly used to provide digital or
physical feedback (e.g., a speaker emitting sounds). Employing such variety of hardware
devices in a real application can be difficult because their use requires knowledge of
underneath physics and many hours of programming work. Furthermore, data integration
can be cumbersome, for any device vendor uses different programming interfaces and
communication protocols. All these factors make the rapid prototyping of ubiquitous
systems a challenging task.
Prototyping is a pivoting activity to foster innovation and creativity through the exploration
of a design space. Nevertheless, while there are many prototyping tools and
guidelines for traditional user interfaces, very few solutions have been developed for a
holistic prototyping of ubiquitous systems. The tremendous amount of different input devices,
interaction techniques and physical environments envisioned by researchers produces
a severe challenge from the point of view of general and comprehensive development
tools. All of this makes it difficult to work in a design and development space where
practitioners need to be familiar with different related subjects, involving software and
hardware. Moreover, the technological context is further complicated by the fact that
many of the ubiquitous technologies have recently grown from an embryonic stage and are
still in a process of maturation; thus they lack of stability, reliability and homogeneity. For
these reasons, it is compelling to develop tools support to the programming of ubiquitous
interaction. In this thesis work this particular topic is addressed.
The goal is to develop a general conceptual and software framework that makes use
of hardware abstraction to lighten the prototyping process in the design of ubiquitous
systems. The thesis is that, by abstracting from low-level details, it is possible to provide
unified, coherent and consistent access to interacting devices independently of their
implementation or communication protocols. In this dissertation the existing literature is
revised and is pointed out that there is a need in the art of frameworks that provide such
a comprehensive and integrate support. Moreover, the objectives and the methodology to
fulfill them, together with the major contributions of this work are described. Finally, the
design of the proposed framework, its development in the form of a set of software libraries,
its evaluation with real users and a use case are presented. Through the evaluation and
the use case it has been demonstrated that by encompassing heterogeneous devices into
a unique design it is possible to reduce user efforts to develop interaction in ubiquitous
environments. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------En la interacci贸n entre personas y sistemas de computaci贸n se han realizado muchos
adelantos por lo que concierne el hardware (p.ej., dispositivos inteligentes con sensores
integrados y superficies t谩ctiles) y el software (p.ej., algoritmos para el reconocimiento
y rastreo de puntos de contactos, gestos de manos y movimientos corporales). Ahora que
se dispone del poder computacional y de los dispositivos para proporcionar una interacci贸n
entre el mundo fisico y el mundo digital, la pregunta es鈥攓ue se deber铆a hacer? Contestar
a esta pregunta, para la comunidad de investigaci贸n en la Interacci贸n Persona-Ordenador,
significa hacer realidad la visi贸n de Mark Weiser sobre la Computaci贸n Ubicua.
En el paradigma de computaci贸n de escritorio, la met谩fora del escritorio se implementa
a trav茅s de la interfaz gr谩fica de usuario con la que se interact煤a a trav茅s de teclado y
rat贸n. En este paradigma, los usuarios se adaptan a utilizar dispositivos artificiales, cuyas
operaciones deben ser aprendidas, y a interactuar en un entorno que inhibe sus capacidades.
Por ejemplo, el rat贸n es un dispositivo que permite movimientos en dos dimensiones,
por tanto limita los veintitr茅s grados de libertad de una mano. La Computaci贸n Ubicua
se considera como una evoluci贸n en la historia de la computaci贸n: su objetivo es hacer
que la interfaz desaparezca e integrar el procesamiento de la informaci贸n en los objetos
cotidianos, provistos de capacidad de computo. De esta forma, el usuario no se ver铆a
forzado a adaptarse a la maquinas sino que la tecnolog铆a se integrar铆an directamente
con el entorno. A diferencia de los sistemas de sobremesa, los sistemas ubicuos utilizan
dispositivos de entrada/salida heterog茅neos (p.ej., sensores de movimiento, cameras y
superficies t谩ctiles entre otros) y t茅cnicas de interacci贸n como la interacci贸n sin tocar,
multit谩ctil o tangible. Reduciendo las limitaciones f铆sicas en la interacci贸n, las tecnolog铆as
ubicuas permiten la creaci贸n de interfaces con un mayor poder de expresi贸n (p.ej.,
gestos con las manos) y, por lo tanto, se espera que proporcionen a los usuarios mejores
herramientas para pensar, crear y comunicar.
Parece claro que las soluciones basadas en las interfaces cl谩sicas no satisfacen las necesidades
de la interacci贸n ubicua, porque est谩n pensadas por un 煤nico usuario que interact煤a
con un 煤nico sistema de computaci贸n, sentado a su mesa de trabajo y mirando una
pantalla vertical. Para superar las deficiencias del paradigma de escritorio, se empezaron
a desarrollar nuevos modelos de interacci贸n que permitiesen a los usuarios emplear sin
esfuerzo sus capacidades innatas y adquiridas y reducir la carga cognitiva de las interfaces
cl谩sicas. Las interfaces ubicuas son pervasivas y, por lo tanto, invisibles a sus usuarios, o
devienen invisibles a trav茅s de interacciones sucesivas en las que los usuarios siempre se
sienten que est谩n teniendo 茅xito. Todos los beneficios propugnados por la interacci贸n
ubicua, como la interfaz invisible o una interacci贸n mas natural, tienen un coste: el dise帽o y el desarrollo de sistemas de interacci贸n ubicua introducen nuevos retos conceptuales
y pr谩cticos. Los sistemas ubicuos comunican con el mundo real a trav茅s de sensores y
emisores. Los sensores convierten las entradas del mundo real en datos digitales, mientras
que los emisores se utilizan principalmente para proporcionar una retroalimentaci贸n digital
o f铆sica (p.ej., unos altavoces que emiten un sonido). Emplear una gran variedad de
dispositivos hardware en una aplicaci贸n real puede ser dif铆cil, porque su uso requiere
conocimiento de f铆sica y muchas horas de programaci贸n. Adem谩s, la integraci贸n de los
datos puede ser complicada, porque cada proveedor de dispositivos utiliza diferentes
interfaces de programaci贸n y protocolos de comunicaci贸n. Todos estos factores hacen
que el prototipado r谩pido de sistemas ubicuos sea una tarea que constituye un dif铆cil reto
en la actualidad.
El prototipado es una actividad central para promover la innovaci贸n y la creatividad a
trav茅s de la exploraci贸n de un espacio de dise帽o. Sin embargo, a pesar de que existan
muchas herramientas y l铆neas gu铆as para el prototipado de las interfaces de escritorio, a
d铆a de hoy han sido desarrolladas muy pocas soluciones para un prototipado hol铆stico de la
interacci贸n ubicua. La enorme cantidad de dispositivos de entrada, t茅cnicas de interacci贸n
y entornos f铆sicos concebidos por los investigadores supone un gran desaf铆o desde el punto
de vista de un entorno general e integral. Todo esto hace que sea dif铆cil trabajar en un
espacio de dise帽o y desarrollo en el que los profesionales necesitan tener conocimiento de
diferentes materias relacionadas con temas de software y hardware. Adem谩s, el contexto
tecnol贸gico se complica por el hecho que muchas de estas tecnolog铆as ubicuas acaban
de salir de un estadio embrionario y est谩n todav铆a en un proceso de desarrollo; por lo
tanto faltan de estabilidad, fiabilidad y homogeneidad. Por estos motivos es fundamental
desarrollar herramientas que soporten el proceso de prototipado de la interacci贸n ubicua.
Este trabajo de tesis doctoral se dedica a este problema.
El objetivo es desarrollar una arquitectura conceptual y software que utilice un nivel de
abstracci贸n del hardware para hacer mas f谩cil el proceso de prototipado de sistemas de
interacci贸n ubicua. La tesis es que, abstrayendo de los detalles de bajo nivel, es posible
proporcionar un acceso unificado, consistente y coherente a los dispositivos de interacci贸n
independientemente de su implementaci贸n y de los protocolos de comunicaci贸n. En esta
tesis doctoral se revisa la literatura existente y se pone de manifiesto la necesidad de
herramientas y marcos que proporcionen dicho soporte global e integrado. Adem谩s, se
describen los objetivos propuestos, la metodolog铆a para alcanzarlos y las contribuciones
principales de este trabajo. Finalmente, se presentan el dise帽o del marco conceptual,
as铆 como su desarrollo en forma de un conjunto de librer铆as software, su evaluaci贸n con
usuarios reales y un caso de uso. A trav茅s de la evaluaci贸n y del caso de uso se ha
demostrado que considerando dispositivos heterog茅neos en un 煤nico dise帽o es posible
reducir los esfuerzos de los usuarios para desarrollar la interacci贸n en entornos ubicuos