Tata AIG General Insurance Company - Insurer Innovation Award 2024
Physical UI Research Showcase
1. Physical and embodied
user interfaces
Simone Mora
simonem@idi.ntnu.no
IDI, Sept. 17th, 2012
2. Agenda
• Definition of physical user interface
• Brief History
• Frameworks
• Research Showcase
• Conclusions
3. What is a physical user interface?
“An interface that rely on embodied interaction,
tangible manipulation, physical representation of
data and embeddedness in real space”
(Hornecker&Buur, 2006)
4. What is a physical user interface?
“An interface containing at least one interaction
technique not dependent on classical 2D widgets
such as menu and icons”
(Van Dam, 1997)
5. History
• The emergence of physical interfaces is closely
related to the adoption of ubiquitous computing
technologies
• Instead of creating “Virtual Words” or building on
the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Mouses, Pointers)
paradigm, computation should enrich the real
world with information from the digital domain
8. Frameworks
• GUIs are really flexible since they can represent a
variety of information by decoupling representation
from control
• The key idea of physical computing is to give physical
form to digital information. However that makes the
tangible part more specific and less flexible.
• So, the challenge is: how can you mix both?
9. MCRit (Ishii et al.)
MVC Model MCRit Model
(Graphical UIs) (Tangible UIs)
Ullmer, B., Ishii, H. & Jacob, R.J.K., 2005. Token+constraint systems for tangible interaction with digital information.
Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI).
11. Reality Based Interaction (Jacob et al.)
• Descriptive framework
• Many new interaction styles are designed to take
advantage of users’ skills and experience of
interacting with the real non-digital world
• Interaction with information becomes from a
segregated activity that takes places at a desk to
a fluid free form activity that takes place into the
real world
12. Reality Based Interaction (Jacob et al.)
• Jacob et al. identified four themes of interaction
with the real world that can be leveraged by
physical interfaces:
Jacob, R. et al., 2008. Reality-based interaction: a framework for post-WIMP interfaces. Proceeding of the twenty-sixth annual SIGCHI conference on
Human factors in computing systems, pp.201–210.
15. Main Themes (technology)
• Tangibles (graspables)
• Tabletops & Interactive surfaces
• Augmented Reality
• Whole-body interaction
• Ambient interfaces
Illustrations adapted from: Shaer, O. 2009. Tangible User Interfaces: Past, Present, and Future Directions, 2009 and http://dub.washington.edu/pubs
16. Application Domains
• Learning and Training*
• Social Communication*
• Problem Solving and Planning*
• Tangible Programming*
• Entertainment, Play, and Edutainment*
• Information Visualization*
• Music and Performance*
* Collaborative
17. Project: Sifteo Cubes
Category: Tangibles
Domain: Learning, Play
Authors: Sifteo Inc., 2009 (former MIT Media Lab project)
18. Project: Chronotape
Category: Tangibles
Domain: Social Interaction
Authors: University of Bristol
Key Publication: Bennett et al. ChronoTape: tangible timelines for family history. In TEI '12: Proceedings of the Sixth
International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction.
19. Project: Lambent shopping trolley
Category: Tangibles
Domain: Information Visualization
Authors: Open University, 2012
Key Pubblication: Kalnikaite, V. et al., 2011. How to nudge in Situ: designing lambent devices to deliver salient
information in supermarkets. In UbiComp '11: Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Ubiquitous
computing.
21. Project: URB
Category: Tabletops and Interactive surfaces
Domain: Problem Solving and Planning
Authors: MIT Media Lab, 1999
Key publication: Underkoffler, J. & Ishii, H., 1999. Urp: a luminous-tangible workbench for urban planning and design.
In CHI '99: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.
22. Project: The Sixth Sense
Category: Whole-Body Interaction
Domain: Social Communication, Information Visualization
Authors: MIT Media Lab, 2009
Key Publication: P. Mistry, P. Maes. SixthSense – A Wearable Gestural Interface. In the Proceedings of SIGGRAPH Asia
23. Project: WATCHiT
Category: Whole-body Interaction
Domain: Training, Problem Solving
Authors: IDI-NTNU, 2012
Key publication: Daniel Cernea et al., Tangible and Wearable User Interfaces for Supporting Collaboration among
Emergency Workers. In proc. to the 18th CRIWG Conference on collaboration and technology.
24. Project: CroMAR
Category: Augmented Reality
Domain: Training
Authors: IDI-NTNU, 2011
Key Publication: Mora, S., Boron, A. & Divitini, M.
CroMAR: Mobile Augmented Reality for Supporting
Reflection on Crowd Management, IGI Global.
25. Project: Human PacMan
Category: Augmented Reality
Domain: Play, Enternatinment
Authors: Mixed Reality Lab Singapore, 2004
Key publication: Adrian David Cheok et al.; Human pacman: a wide area socio-physical interactive
entertainment system in mixed reality. In CHI '04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems
27. ambientROOM, MIT Media Lab, 1997
Ishii and Ullmer. Tangible bits: towards
seamless interfaces between people, bits
and atoms.
Project: AmbientROOM
Category: Ambient Interfaces
Domain: Information Visualization
Authors: MIT Media Lab, 1998
Key publication: Ishii, H. et al., 1998. ambientROOM: integrating ambient media with architectural space. In CHI 98
conference summary on Human factors in computing systems. New York, NY, USA: ACM, pp. 173–174.
29. Project: Collaborative Mood Awareness
Category: Ambient Interfaces
Domain: Information Visualization
Authors: IDI-NTNU, 2011
Key publication: Mora, S. et al.. Supporting Mood Awareness in Collaborative Settings. Proceedings of the 7th
International Conference on Collaborative Computing (CollaborateCom)
30. Physical Interfaces - Pros
• May increase usability
• May increase enjoyment
• Allows for (user-side) multitasking
• Allows for interaction in the periphery
• Support face-to-face social interaction
(Hornecker&Buur, 2006)
• Can leverage users’ knowledge and skills of
interaction with the everyday, non-digital, work
(Jacob et al., 2008)
31. Physical Interfaces - Pros
• (Almost) unexplored area of research, you can
be a pioneer!
32. Physical Interfaces - Challenges
• Requires not only designing the digital (software)
but also the physical (hardware) and the
interrelations between the two (affordances)
• Physical interaction is socially and culturally
situated (Hornecker, 2011)
Näıve Physics: the common sense knowledge people have about the physical world. Body Awareness and Skills: the awareness people have of their own physical bodies and their skills of controlling and coordinating their bodies. Environment Awareness and Skills: the sense of surroundings people have for their environment and their skills of manip- ulating and navigating their environment. Social Awareness and Skills: the awareness people have that other people share their environment, their skills of interact- ing with each other verbally or non verbally, and their ability to work together to accomplish a common goal.