PickCells: A Physically Reconfigurable Cell-composed Touchscreen

Touchscreens are the predominant medium for interactions with digital services; however, their current fixed form factor narrows the scope for rich physical interactions by limiting interaction possibilities to a single, planar surface. In this paper we introduce the concept of PickCells, a fully reconfigurable device concept composed of cells, that breaks the mould of rigid screens and explores a modular system that affords rich sets of tangible interactions and novel acrossdevice relationships. Through a series of co-design activities – involving HCI experts and potential end-users of such systems – we synthesised a design space aimed at inspiring future research, giving researchers and designers a framework in which to explore modular screen interactions. The design space we propose unifies existing works on modular touch surfaces under a general framework and broadens horizons by opening up unexplored spaces providing new interaction possibilities. In this paper, we present the PickCells concept, a design space of modular touch surfaces, and propose a toolkit for quick scenario prototyping

A toolkit of mechanism and context independent widgets

Most human-computer interfaces are designed to run on a static platform (e.g. a workstation with a monitor) in a static environment (e.g. an office). However, with mobile devices becoming ubiquitous and capable of running applications similar to those found on static devices, it is no longer valid to design static interfaces. This paper describes a user-interface architecture which allows interactors to be flexible about the way they are presented. This flexibility is defined by the different input and output mechanisms used. An interactor may use different mechanisms depending upon their suitability in the current context, user preference and the resources available for presentation using that mechanism

Emergeables: Deformable Displays for Continuous Eyes-Free Mobile Interaction

ABSTRACT In this paper we present the concept of Emergeables -mobile surfaces that can deform or 'morph' to provide fully-actuated, tangible controls. Our goal in this work is to provide the flexibility of graphical touchscreens, coupled with the affordance and tactile benefits offered by physical widgets. In contrast to previous research in the area of deformable displays, our work focuses on continuous controls (e.g., dials or sliders), and strives for fully-dynamic positioning, providing versatile widgets that can change shape and location depending on the user's needs. We describe the design and implementation of two prototype emergeables built to demonstrate the concept, and present an in-depth evaluation that compares both with a touchscreen alternative. The results show the strong potential of emergeables for on-demand, eyes-free control of continuous parameters, particularly when comparing the accuracy and usability of a high-resolution emergeable to a standard GUI approach. We conclude with a discussion of the level of resolution that is necessary for future emergeables, and suggest how high-resolution versions might be achieved

Systems, interactions and macrotheory

A significant proportion of early HCI research was guided by one very clear vision: that the existing theory base in psychology and cognitive science could be developed to yield engineering tools for use in the interdisciplinary context of HCI design. While interface technologies and heuristic methods for behavioral evaluation have rapidly advanced in both capability and breadth of application, progress toward deeper theory has been modest, and some now believe it to be unnecessary. A case is presented for developing new forms of theory, based around generic “systems of interactors.” An overlapping, layered structure of macro- and microtheories could then serve an explanatory role, and could also bind together contributions from the different disciplines. Novel routes to formalizing and applying such theories provide a host of interesting and tractable problems for future basic research in HCI

Building User Interfaces: Organizing Software Agents

ing combines and transforms events coming from the presentation techniques into higher level events for higher abstractions. Conversely, concretizing decomposes and transforms high level information into low level information. The lowest level of the dialogue controller is in contact with the presentation techniques provided by the toolkit. This boundary is a rather fuzzy frontier. In general, user interface toolkits such as the X Intrinsics, provide an abstraction mechanism for defining new interaction techniques. However, it is not always possible to build new interaction techniques from the predefined building blocks of the toolkit. For example, in an earlier version of the X intrinsics, interaction techniques would occupy rectangular areas only. In such conditions, the notion of a wall in a floor plan drawing editor, could not be implemented as a diagonal line widget. Instead, a presentation object "wall" would be defined as a new abstraction in the dialogue controller portion. Thi..

The engineering of mixed reality systems

International audienceHuman-Computer Interaction (HCI) is no longer restricted to interaction between users and computers via keyboard and screen: Currently one of the most challenging aspects of interactive systems is the integration of the physical and digital aspects of interaction in a smooth and usable way. The design challenge of such mixed reality (MR) systems lies in the fluid and harmonious fusion of the physical and digital worlds. Examples of MR systems include tangible user interfaces, augmented reality, augmented virtuality and embodied interfaces. The diversity of terms highlights the ever growing interest in MR systems and the very dynamic and challenging domain they define