tangible@home
nicolas nova - liftlab / near future laboratory
MAS834 tangible interfaces course (MIT Medialab)
October 7th, 2008

The ecosystem observed

Through ethnography-based user research

Place visited, material collected

5 usage patterns
(among others)

1. Home tinkering: relying on people’s creativity?

2. Gestural affordance: what gesture for what interaction?

3. Gestures names: ease players’ expectations through naming
common gestures
“The Form Baton - The Balance Stone -
players experience
The Remote Control - The Umbrella -
The Handlebar - The Sketch Artist - The
Chauffeur - The Samurai- The Tug-of-
War -The Waiter - The Elephant - The
Thumb Wrestler - The Discard -The Big
Cheese - The Janitor - The Dumbbell -
The Mohawk - The Finger Food - The
Boxer -The Mortar and Pestle - The
Diner“
WarioWare

4. Inert interfaces and gestures: even clickr leads to gestures!

5. Gestures+in-game interactions: combining both

Take aways
• Reveals the complexity: context, gestures,
mental model, technological limits, in-game
interactions, etc.
• UX research to feed game design: inform versus
inspire.
• How this information is used? Workshop with
designers and developers to draw implications,
recommendations, constraints.