Tangible User Interfaces

2008-05-10T14:25:00.004-04:00

I-Pac Arcade Controller
For our technology demonstration the idea was for us to learn a technology and be able to demonstrate it in class. Given that all of the "cool" technologies were selected when I chose my technology, I was left with a fairly mundane and fairly straightforward arcade joystick assembly-like the one pictured to the left.

The I-PAC Arcade Controller is a USB keyboard emulator that makes it easy to capture input from switches, arcade buttons, joysticks, etc. A WIN32 firmware programmer lets one map input ports to standard keyboard keys.

The actual programming of this technology was very simple. The only real hardware is a micro switch. A switch was located at the base of each of the two buttons I was given and a four switches-on fir each direction-was found on the bottom of the joystick I was given.

Wiring the USB emulator consisted of screwing wires into labeled slots on the chip and grounding the other side of the switch-probably a total of 7 minutes of work. After downloading the software and plunging the chip in, there was an option to view an interactive image of a standard QWERTY-keyboard presented on the screen. A user need only click the icons associated with switches that connected to the emulator and map them to specific keys on the keyboard

After saving these setting. The chip is programmed and the joystick can be used the same way any other input device on the computer might be used. With only the two buttons the only obvious application of this device was to map the joystick to the directional buttons and the two button to "Enter" and "Backspace" respectively. This technology performed very reliably, despite the fact that the wiring was done with pliers and electrical tape instead of solder.

Museum Vist the First

2008-05-10T13:01:00.007-04:00

Skin Sensor: What Makes You Sweat
Last week we visited the Boston Museum of Science as a class. The impetus for this trip was to identify, examine and evaluate some applications of TUIs. After exploring as a group, talking with some of the museum staff, and learning about the production and testing process of a typical museum exhibit we were instructed to split up and identify and evaluate several exhibits based on some specific criteria.

I found an exhibit that seemed interesting. It was titled: Skin Sensor:What Makes You Sweat?
As can be seen in the above image, the interface consisted of a carousel, a monitor a set of sensors designed for one's hand, a panel of four buttons and some written information. The Exhibit simply encouraged its users to explore the biological reaction to different mental stimuli.

The idea is that a user sits in the chair in front of the the monitor and places their pointer and middle finger on the moisture sensors. Assuming the last user didn't leave the machine running, the user presses the first button on the far right labeled start and is immediately met with a live updating graph of the moisture their body is producing as a function of time.

The instructions, pictured left, encourages users to think about specific people or things, to close there eyes and relax, to laugh and to try their own ideas and see how the graph behaves differently.

The text used on the instructions and the height of the chair indicate that this exhibit is targeted towards a fairly young-elementary school audience, but the exhibit was intriging enough that it certianly caught my attention.

There were a few interesting features of the exhibit that augmented the central exercise that was clearly the purpose of the exhibit. On the aforementioned carousel there was a device with recorded sounds. The idea was to play the sounds and see how your perspiration levels responded to the different inputs. Additionally, there was a button that allowed you to mark a point on the graph- presumably to compare ones reaction to different stimuli with greater ease. There was also and audio feedback button and a more information button-neither of which seemed to do anything.

The idea behind this exhibit is to simply spark interest for further exploration. There is no information or explanation given at the exhibit. The title their refers more to the stimuli that make one sweat rather than the reasons that make one sweat.

In general I found this exhibit to be an interesting one. It did not require reading. It was simple to figure out simply by interacting with the interface. It might be more successful as a teaching tool if there was some attempt at a general explanation for some of the principles behind sweating, but it is possible that if the explanation was communicated in some way other than text or audio some of the appeal associated with the simplicity of the exhibit might be lost.

The exhibit has fallen into some disrepair, but it still conveys its same general message. A more attractive interface might have gone a long way towards getting it some more attention also.

Homework 1B: TUIML Familiarization

2008-02-22T16:05:00.006-05:00

TUIML: A Visual Language for Modeling Tangible User Interfaces
TUIML is a visual modeling language for TUIs intended to specify and analyze tangible interaction. TUIML consists of an interaction model and diagramming techniques that are used to describe the physical and digital structure and behavior of TUI.

This assignment consists of using this language to describe the same TUI system described in Homework 1A–Urp. My analysis follows

Physical syntax: The physical properties of the tokens and constraints make it clear what is to be does with the objects. For example:

The hands of the clock are movable. A clock gives the time. This is not ambiguous.
The distance tool is a ruler. Rulers are used to measure distance. This is not ambiguous.
All tokens are placed on surfaces. The surface is clearly the only place where interactions can occur. This is not ambiguous.

The material wand and the wind tool represent non-physical concepts, so in having a physical form they are somewhat ambiguous by their nature.

Observability and predictability: In URP, there is no internal information in the system that is not physically displayed. The tokens and objects effectively communicate all that is occurring.

The tasks that are available in this system are made clear by the tools. There is no reason for a user to assume that he/she has further options.

Assuming that there are enough wind tools, material wands and buildings for all of the users of the system to interact with, the only task that cannot be performed in parallel is the adjusting of the time of day. The interface accepts only one of this kind of input at a time. That said the physical state of the system communicates fully the capabilities of the system. The number of tokens is the number of access points.

Modes: In URP, placing the distance tool on the surface with only one building on the surface is a meaningless action. However, if there are two buildings on the surface and the tool is placed between the two of them the distance between the two buildings is reported.

The physical appearance of the different tokens indicates the use of the token and the tasks that can be performed with that token. If an other task is performed with that token the system will fail to respond.

The TUIML Tutorial which includes a more thorough explanation of the visual modeling language can be found here.

Homework 1A: Urp

2008-02-06T22:46:00.000-05:00

Urp: A Luminous-Tangible Workbench for Urban Planning and Design

The Idea...
Two urban planners, designing a plaza, unroll a map of their area of responsibility onto a table. They place an architectural model of a building from the site on the map. Obligingly, the shadow of the building appears on the map and follows the model around as it is moved. When they place a second building model on the table, it too casts a shadow.

The first planner tells the second to try a different time of day. The subordinate planner places the clock widget on the table and rotates the hour hand. That shadows of the shorten, switch to the other side and stretch as the hands rotate about the face of the clock.

A video courtesy of the tangible media lab is available online.

The Pieces
This TUI is composed of a surface, building models, a material wand, a wind tool, a distance measuring tool, and a clock.

The core of the system consists of moving the hands of a clock, which represents the time of day, to change the shadows that a building casts. The user can change the reflective properties of a building by tapping the material wand to a model. The user can determine the wind flow characteristics of the area by placing the wind tool on the table. The direction of the flow can, of course be adjusted. Lastly, the user can measure the distance between any two objects on the table by touching first one object and then the other. All information output by this interface (flow lines, shadows, distances) is displayed on the surface of the table.

The Analysis
Design Concept: The information represented physically in this model system are the components that are physically in reality, which is perhaps why this TUI has been so successful. The buildings are physical and the surface is physical. The wind, and the light and distances, all things that have no physical for are left digital. All of the commands have physical manifestations in this system.

Use Scenarios: This system could be used by urban planners , landscape architects or anyone who is trying to either design or present. The layout of an area.

Implementation: This system is made possible by an I/O bulb.

Interface Related Skills and Knowledge: Another fantastic component of this system is tha one does not need to learn anything new in order to use it successfully. It is simple and effective. If a user wants to move a building to a different location he/she simply picks up the model and moves it.

If you are curious about this TUI, the full paper can be found here.

Tangible Interaction and a Hello

2008-01-29T09:43:00.000-05:00

Welcome. In this blog I will talk about human computer interaction. Most of the posts will be about Tangible User Interfaces or TUIs. The majority of my posts impressions but hopefully I will have some code to post and a project or two to walk you through. Enjoy.

-Courtland

A clarification before we start...

One of the pioneers in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Hiroshi Ishii, explained the benefits of tangible interaction this way...

People have developed sophisticated skills for sensing and manipulating the physical environment. This myriad of skills is not employed when interacting with traditional Graphical User Interface (GUI) systems. The goal of tangible computing is to allow the user to implement their intrinsic "physical" skills by giving physical form to digital information.

Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) employ physical objects, surfaces, and spaces as tangible embodiments of digital information. This ranges from graspable objects and augmented surfaces, which allow users to employ their tactile system and their sense of kinesthesia, to "ambient media" light, sound, airflow, and water movement, which engage a users sense of activity and peripheral awareness.

The idea is simply to take advantage of the richness of multimodal human senses and skills developed through our lifetime of interaction with the physical world.

tangible media lab