An object-oriented approach to application generation

The TUBA system consists of a set of integrated tools for the generation of business-oriented applications. Tools and applications have a modular structure, represented by class objects. The article describes the architecture of the environments for file processing, screen handling and report writing

A flexible flight display research system using a ground-based interactive graphics terminal

Requirements and research areas for the air transportation system of the 1980 to 1990's were reviewed briefly to establish the need for a flexible flight display generation research tool. Specific display capabilities required by aeronautical researchers are listed and a conceptual system for providing these capabilities is described. The conceptual system uses a ground-based interactive graphics terminal driven by real-time radar and telemetry data to generate dynamic, experimental flight displays. These displays are scan converted to television format, processed, and transmitted to the cockpits of evaluation aircraft. The attendant advantages of a Flight Display Research System (FDRS) designed to employ this concept are presented. The detailed implementation of an FDRS is described. The basic characteristics of the interactive graphics terminal and supporting display electronic subsystems are presented and the resulting system capability is summarized. Finally, the system status and utilization are reviewed

Wearable and mobile devices

Information and Communication Technologies, known as ICT, have undergone dramatic changes in the last 25 years. The 1980s was the decade of the Personal Computer (PC), which brought computing into the home and, in an educational setting, into the classroom. The 1990s gave us the World Wide Web (the Web), building on the infrastructure of the Internet, which has revolutionized the availability and delivery of information. In the midst of this information revolution, we are now confronted with a third wave of novel technologies (i.e., mobile and wearable computing), where computing devices already are becoming small enough so that we can carry them around at all times, and, in addition, they have the ability to interact with devices embedded in the environment. The development of wearable technology is perhaps a logical product of the convergence between the miniaturization of microchips (nanotechnology) and an increasing interest in pervasive computing, where mobility is the main objective. The miniaturization of computers is largely due to the decreasing size of semiconductors and switches; molecular manufacturing will allow for “not only molecular-scale switches but also nanoscale motors, pumps, pipes, machinery that could mimic skin” (Page, 2003, p. 2). This shift in the size of computers has obvious implications for the human-computer interaction introducing the next generation of interfaces. Neil Gershenfeld, the director of the Media Lab’s Physics and Media Group, argues, “The world is becoming the interface. Computers as distinguishable devices will disappear as the objects themselves become the means we use to interact with both the physical and the virtual worlds” (Page, 2003, p. 3). Ultimately, this will lead to a move away from desktop user interfaces and toward mobile interfaces and pervasive computing

Freeform User Interfaces for Graphical Computing

報告番号: 甲15222 ; 学位授与年月日: 2000-03-29 ; 学位の種別: 課程博士 ; 学位の種類: 博士(工学) ; 学位記番号: 博工第4717号 ; 研究科・専攻: 工学系研究科情報工学専

Granular synthesis for display of time-varying probability densities

We present a method for displaying time-varying probabilistic information to users using an asynchronous granular synthesis technique. We extend the basic synthesis technique to include distribution over waveform source, spatial position, pitch and time inside waveforms. To enhance the synthesis in interactive contexts, we "quicken" the display by integrating predictions of user behaviour into the sonification. This includes summing the derivatives of the distribution during exploration of static densities, and using Monte-Carlo sampling to predict future user states in nonlinear dynamic systems. These techniques can be used to improve user performance in continuous control systems and in the interactive exploration of high dimensional spaces. This technique provides feedback from users potential goals, and their progress toward achieving them; modulating the feedback with quickening can help shape the users actions toward achieving these goals. We have applied these techniques to a simple nonlinear control problem as well as to the sonification of on-line probabilistic gesture recognition. We are applying these displays to mobile, gestural interfaces, where visual display is often impractical. The granular synthesis approach is theoretically elegant and easily applied in contexts where dynamic probabilistic displays are required

Knowledge-based graphical interfaces for presenting technical information

Designing effective presentations of technical information is extremely difficult and time-consuming. Moreover, the combination of increasing task complexity and declining job skills makes the need for high-quality technical presentations especially urgent. We believe that this need can ultimately be met through the development of knowledge-based graphical interfaces that can design and present technical information. Since much material is most naturally communicated through pictures, our work has stressed the importance of well-designed graphics, concentrating on generating pictures and laying out displays containing them. We describe APEX, a testbed picture generation system that creates sequences of pictures that depict the performance of simple actions in a world of 3D objects. Our system supports rules for determining automatically the objects to be shown in a picture, the style and level of detail with which they should be rendered, the method by which the action itself should be indicated, and the picture's camera specification. We then describe work on GRIDS, an experimental display layout system that addresses some of the problems in designing displays containing these pictures, determining the position and size of the material to be presented

Semi-automated creation of converged iTV services: From macromedia director simulations to services ready for broadcast

While sound and video may capture viewers’ attention, interaction can captivate them. This has not been available prior to the advent of Digital Television. In fact, what lies at the heart of the Digital Television revolution is this new type of interactive content, offered in the form of interactive Television (iTV) services. On top of that, the new world of converged networks has created a demand for a new type of converged services on a range of mobile terminals (Tablet PCs, PDAs and mobile phones). This paper aims at presenting a new approach to service creation that allows for the semi-automatic translation of simulations and rapid prototypes created in the accessible desktop multimedia authoring package Macromedia Director into services ready for broadcast. This is achieved by a series of tools that de-skill and speed-up the process of creating digital TV user interfaces (UI) and applications for mobile terminals. The benefits of rapid prototyping are essential for the production of these new types of services, and are therefore discussed in the first section of this paper. In the following sections, an overview of the operation of content, service, creation and management sub-systems is presented, which illustrates why these tools compose an important and integral part of a system responsible of creating, delivering and managing converged broadcast and telecommunications services. The next section examines a number of metadata languages candidates for describing the iTV services user interface and the schema language adopted in this project. A detailed description of the operation of the two tools is provided to offer an insight of how they can be used to de-skill and speed-up the process of creating digital TV user interfaces and applications for mobile terminals. Finally, representative broadcast oriented and telecommunication oriented converged service components are also introduced, demonstrating how these tools have been used to generate different types of services

Electronic Chart of the Future: The Hampton Roads Project

ECDIS is evolving from a two-dimensional static display of chart-related data to a decision support system capable of providing real-time or forecast information. While there may not be consensus on how this will occur, it is clear that to do this, ENC data and the shipboard display environment must incorporate both depth and time in an intuitively understandable way. Currently, we have the ability to conduct high-density hydrographic surveys capable of producing ENCs with decimeter contour intervals or depth areas. Yet, our existing systems and specifications do not provide for a full utilization of this capability. Ideally, a mariner should be able to benefit from detailed hydrographic data, coupled with both forecast and real-time water levels, and presented in a variety of perspectives. With this information mariners will be able to plan and carry out transits with the benefit of precisely determined and easily perceived underkeel, overhead, and lateral clearances. This paper describes a Hampton Roads Demonstration Project to investigate the challenges and opportunities of developing the “Electronic Chart of the Future.” In particular, a three-phase demonstration project is being planned: 1. Compile test datasets from existing and new hydrographic surveys using advanced data processing and compilation procedures developed at the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center (CCOM/JHC); 2. Investigate innovative approaches being developed at the CCOM/JHC to produce an interactive time- and tide-aware navigation display, and to evaluate such a display on commercial and/or government vessels; 3. Integrate real-time/forecast water depth information and port information services transmitted via an AIS communications broadcast

Tangible user interfaces : past, present and future directions

In the last two decades, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) have emerged as a new interface type that interlinks the digital and physical worlds. Drawing upon users' knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show a potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information. However, TUI research is still in its infancy and extensive research is required in or- der to fully understand the implications of tangible user interfaces, to develop technologies that further bridge the digital and the physical, and to guide TUI design with empirical knowledge. This paper examines the existing body of work on Tangible User In- terfaces. We start by sketching the history of tangible user interfaces, examining the intellectual origins of this field. We then present TUIs in a broader context, survey application domains, and review frame- works and taxonomies. We also discuss conceptual foundations of TUIs including perspectives from cognitive sciences, phycology, and philoso- phy. Methods and technologies for designing, building, and evaluating TUIs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limita- tions of TUIs and chart directions for future research