An Integrating Framework for Mixed Systems

International audienceTechnological advances in hardware manufacturing led to an extended range of possibilities for designing physical-digital objects involved in a mixed system. Mixed systems can take various forms and include augmented reality, augmented virtuality, and tangible systems. In this very dynamic context, it is difficult to compare existing mixed systems and to systematically explore the design space. Addressing this design problem, this chapter presents a unified point of view on mixed systems by focusing on mixed objects involved in interaction, i.e. hybrid physical-digital objects straddling physical and digital worlds. Our integrating framework is made of two complementary facets of a mixed object: we define intrinsic characteristics of an object as well as extrinsic characteristics of an object by considering its role in the interaction. Such characteristics of an object are useful for comparing existing mixed systems at a fine-grain level. The taxonomic power of these characteristics is discussed in the context of existing mixed systems from the literature. Their generative power is illustrated by considering a system, Roam, which we designed and developed

An Integrating Framework for Mixed Systems

International audienceTechnological advances in hardware manufacturing led to an extended range of possibilities for designing physical-digital objects involved in a mixed system. Mixed systems can take various forms and include augmented reality, augmented virtuality, and tangible systems. In this very dynamic context, it is difficult to compare existing mixed systems and to systematically explore the design space. Addressing this design problem, this chapter presents a unified point of view on mixed systems by focusing on mixed objects involved in interaction, i.e. hybrid physical-digital objects straddling physical and digital worlds. Our integrating framework is made of two complementary facets of a mixed object: we define intrinsic characteristics of an object as well as extrinsic characteristics of an object by considering its role in the interaction. Such characteristics of an object are useful for comparing existing mixed systems at a fine-grain level. The taxonomic power of these characteristics is discussed in the context of existing mixed systems from the literature. Their generative power is illustrated by considering a system, Roam, which we designed and developed

Designing Disambiguation Techniques for Pointing in the Physical World

International audienceSeveral ways for selecting physical objects exist, including touching and pointing at them. Allowing the user to interact at a distance by pointing at physical objects can be challenging when the environment contains a large number of interactive physical objects, possibly occluded by other everyday items. Previous pointing techniques highlighted the need for disambiguation techniques. Addressing this challenge, this paper contributes a design space that organizes along groups and axes a set of options for designers to relevantly (1) describe, (2) classify, and (3) design disambiguation techniques. First, we have not found techniques in the literature yet that our design space could not describe. Second, all the techniques show a different path along the axes of our design space. Third, it allows defining of several new paths/solutions that have not yet been explored. We illustrate this generative power with the example of such a designed technique, Physical Pointing Roll (P2Roll)

Mobile Pointing Task in the Physical World: Balancing Focus and Performance while Disambiguating

International audienceWe address the problem of mobile distal selection of physical objects when pointing at them in augmented environments. We focus on the disambiguation step needed when several objects are selected with a rough pointing gesture. A usual disambiguation technique forces the users to switch their focus from the physical world to a list displayed on a handheld device's screen. In this paper, we explore the balance between change of users' focus and performance. We present two novel interaction techniques allowing the users to maintain their focus in the physical world. Both use a cycling mechanism, respectively performed with a wrist rolling gesture for P2Roll or with a finger sliding gesture for P2Slide. A user experiment showed that keeping users' focus in the physical world outperforms techniques that require the users to switch their focus to a digital representation distant from the physical objects, when disambiguating up to 8 objects

Curseurs Tangibles sur Dispositifs Mobiles : Impact de la Conception sur les Performances

International audienceTouch interaction is almost omnipresent on mobile devices and technological advances have made screens bigger. The users can then interact with more content displayed on screen but it is more difficult for the users to reach all the parts of the screen with one thumb. At the same time, researchers are exploring mobile interaction with deformable tangible interfaces. Bringing tangible objects to the flat screen brings a new perspective on the reachability problem of the thumb. In this work, we explore the impact on performance for thumb interaction within and outside the functional area of the thumb, while operating a tangible slider. Experimental results demonstrate that the size of the motor space has a significant impact on performance. Operations within and outside the easily reachable area of the thumb show marginal difference of performance.L’interaction tactile est omniprésente sur les dispositifs mobiles et les avancées technologiques ont permis des écrans plus grands. Les utilisateurs peuvent alors interagir avec plus de contenu affiché à l’écran, mais il est plus difficile pour les utilisateurs d’atteindre toutes les parties de l’écran avec le pouce de la main qui tient le dispositif mobile. Dans le même temps, les interfaces tangibles déformables sur mobile sont étudiées : l’ajout de contrôles ou widgets tangibles sur l’écran plat du mobile définit une nouvelle perspective sur le problème de l’accessibilité pour l’interaction au pouce. Dans cet article, nous étudions les performances de l’interaction mobile au pouce à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de la zone d’action facilement atteignable avec le pouce pour manipuler un curseur tangible. Les résultats expérimentaux démontrent que la taille de l’espace moteur a un impact significatif sur les performances. Au contraire la différence de performances entre les actions à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de la zone d’action facilement atteignable avec le pouce est marginale

OP: A Novel Programming Model for Integrated Design and Prototyping of Mixed Objects

Part 1: Long and Short PapersInternational audienceIn the context of mixed systems that seek to smoothly merge physical and digital worlds, designing and prototyping interaction involves physical and digital aspects of mixed objects. However, even though mixed objects are recurrent in the literature, none of the existing prototyping tools explicitly supports this object level. Moreover, designers have to use distinct tools, on the one hand, tools for designing ideas and on the other hand tools for prototyping them: this makes the design process difficult. To help alleviate these two problems, we present OP (Object Prototyping), a toolkit that provides a new programming model focusing on mixed objects and allows us to seamlessly go back and forth from conceptual ideas to functional physical prototypes, making the iterative design process smooth and integrated. Indeed, OP is explicitly based on an existing conceptual design model, namely the Mixed Interaction Model that has been shown to be useful for exploring the design space of mixed objects. Our user studies show that, despite its threshold, designers and developers using OP can rapidly prototype functional physical objects as part of a design process deeply intertwining conceptual design with prototyping activities

Identifying Emotions Expressed by Mobile Users through 2D Surface and 3D Motion Gestures

Session: Feelings and emotionsInternational audienceOnly intrusive and expensive ways of precisely expressing emotions has been proposed, which are not likely to appear soon in everyday Ubicomp environments. In this paper, we study to which extent we can identify the emotion a user is explicitly expressing through 2D and 3D gestures. Indeed users already often manipulate mobile devices with touch screen and accelerometers. We conducted a field study where we asked participants to explicitly express their emotion through gestures and to report their affective states. We contribute by (1) showing a high number of significant correlations in 3D motion descriptors of gestures and in the arousal dimension; (2) defining a space of affective gestures. We identify (3) groups of descriptors that structure the space and are related to arousal. Finally, we provide with (4) a preliminary model of arousal and we identify (5) interesting patterns in particular classes of gestures. Such results are useful for Ubicomp application designers in order to envision the use of gestures as a cheap and non-intrusive affective modality

KnobSlider:design of a shape-changing UI for parameter control

International audiencePhysical controls are widely used by professionals such as sound engineers or aircraft pilots. In particular knobs and sliders are the most prevalent in such interfaces. They have advantages over touchscreen GUIs, especially when users require quick and eyes-free control. However, their interfaces (e.g., mixing consoles) are often bulky and crowded. To improve this, we present the results of a formative study with professionals who use physical controllers. Based on their feedback, we propose design requirements for future interfaces for parameters control. We then introduce the design of our KnobSlider that combines the advantages of a knob and a slider in one unique shape-changing device. A qualitative study with professionals shows how KnobSlider supports the design requirements, and inspired new interactions and applications

Curseur Tangible et Déformable sur Dispositifs Mobiles pour Interagir à une Main sans Regarder l'Écran

International audienceGraphical sliders are widely used on mobile devices. However, with a single hand, reaching for far values is difficult : users change their grip and can drop the device. Moreover, sliders require visual attention to operate them. Envisioning mobile devices that dynamically extend tangible sliders out of the screen, the contribution of this work is a first attempt to experimentally study a deformable tangible slider that facilitate thumb interaction on mobile devices. The deformable tangible slider expands its cursor (Figure 1) to avoid hand-grip changes by maintaining the thumb within its comfortable area. Moreover, its tangible aspect allows eyes-free interaction. We first compared a low-fidelity prototype with a classic tangible slider. The prototype improves performance by 9.2% when targets are outside the thumb's comfortable area. We then designed a de-formable slider that we compared to a classic tangible slider and a graphical one. Though the deformable slider is globally faster (14.3%) than the classic tangible one, the difference is not significant. While the graphical slider performs faster, the deformable tangible slider o ers eyes- free interaction and stable hand-grip.Les curseurs graphiques sont largement utilisés sur les dispositifs mobiles. Cependant, atteindre des valeurs éloignées avec le pouce de la main qui tient le dispositif est difficile : les utilisateurs changent alors la prise en main du dispositif au risque de le faire tomber. De plus, les curseurs graphiques sollicitent l’attention visuelle pour les manipuler. En anticipant que les dispositifs mobiles pourront faire émerger de leurs écrans des curseurs physiques dynamiquement, notre contribution est une première exploration expérimentale d’un curseur tangible qui se déforme pour faciliter l’interaction mobile avec le pouce de la main qui tient le dispositif. Le curseur tangible se déforme pour que le pouce manipule toujours le curseur dans la zone d’action facilement atteignable (Fig. 1). Le curseur tangible déformable (1) évite les changements de prise en main en maintenant le pouce dans sa zone de confort, et (2) permet une interaction sans regarder le dispositif mobile. Nous avons d’abord comparé un prototype basse-fidélité avec un curseur classique tangible. Le prototype améliore les performances de 9.2% lorsque les cibles sont en dehors de la zone de confort du pouce. Nous avons ensuite conçu un curseur déformable que nous avons comparé à un curseur tangible classique et à un curseur graphique. Les résultats expérimentaux démontrent que le curseur tangible déformable est globalement plus rapide de 14.3% que le curseur tangible classique sans que les résultats soient significativement différents. Alors que le curseur graphique o re de meilleures performances que les deux autres curseurs tangibles, le curseur tangible déformable o re une interac- tion sans regarder le dispositif avec une prise en main du dispositif stable

Techniques de Pointage à Distance : Cibles Numériques et Cibles Physique

National audienceAu sein d'un environnement ubiquitaire, l'ordinateur devient évanescent : nos objets quotidiens sont augmentés d'électronique, les environnements deviennent perceptifs déconfinant l'interaction homme-machine de l'ancien ordinateur "boîte grise" à des espaces pervasifs. Désormais, l'utilisateur évolue dans un monde physico-numérique ou espace interactif mixte. Au sein de cet espace interactif, un besoin est alors d'interagir à distance que ce soit pour manipuler des objets numériques sur un écran distant ou des objets physiques. Cet article est dédié aux techniques de pointage à distance pour désigner un objet numérique ou physique. Nous décrivons six techniques de pointage pour interagir dans un environnement ubiquitaire, la première pour pointer à distance sur des cibles numériques, les cinq autres pour pointer sur des objets physiques avec et sans un dispositif mobile