i213: User Interface Design & Development Marti Hearst Tues, April 19, 2007

Today: Alternative Interfaces Hardware –Small mobile computers –Sensor networks –Tangible interfaces Software / Systems –Ubiquitous computing –Context-aware computing –Augmented Reality

PDAs are everywhere! This is new … the first few attempts failed Gary Trudeau lambasted the failed (ahead-of-its-time) Apple Newton (introduced 1993; Palm introduced 1996)

Bergman & Haitani Reading What assumptions did the Pilot designers change? What went right with the Pilot? What can we currently not do well on PDAs?

Innovative PDA-based Interfaces Ping Yee’s Peephole displays Baudisch and Rosenholtz, Halo: A Technique for Visualizing Off-Screen Locations – htmlhttp:// html Datelens Fisheye Calendar –

Ubiquitous Computing What are the main ideas in Weiser’s 1991 paper? –The disappearance of technology The opposite of virtual reality More humanizing, more human interaction More “natural” interaction, less fiddling –Wireless, interconnected devices Constant, but unobtrusive, availability A range of different sizes –Context-aware behavior Privacy considerations must be addressed – but no solutions proposed This work really started several years before After more than a decade, we are not much closer to dealing with the privacy issues but at least now there is a lot of interest in the topic.

Slide from lecture by Anind Dey Sensor Networks Berkeley/Intel sensor motes

“Context-Aware” Computing Related to Ubicomp and Mobile Computing Takes your current environment into account in making decisions –Turns off cell phone when you enter the lecture hall. –When you ask where to go for a meal, notes that it is morning and you are in Taipei before making a recommendation. –Knows who wrote on the whiteboard so a copy of the ink can be ed to the author. –Plays music you like when you enter an empty elevator. –Notifies your doctor when your heart rate goes too high.

“Context-Aware” Computing Makes use of different kinds of information –Geographic –Temporal –Social … ?

Slide from lecture by Prasun Dewan Location-Aware Computing Motivation –location-based action nearby local printer, doctor nearby remote phone directions/maps –location-based information real –person’s location –history/sales/events virtual –walkthrough –story of city augmented –touring machine

Slide from lecture by Prasun Dewan Wearable Pose-Aware Computers Computers on body –track body relative movements monitor person train person

Alternative Realities Virtual Reality creates a completely computer-generated environment. Augmented Reality uses an existing, real-life environment, and adds computer-generated information (virtual objects) thereto. Diminished Reality filters the environment: it alters real objects, replaces them with virtual ones, or renders them imperceptible. Mediated Reality combines Augmented and Diminished Reality. –Definitions by Steve “Cyberman” Mann

Slide from lecture by Prasun Dewan “Augmented Reality” Operations based on locations and orientations of users and devices Cool app: –Point a camera at a sign – see its translation on the screen.

Slide from lecture by Anind Dey Why Tangible Interfaces? Lose something when we use a non-tactile, non- material interface Tradeoffs between human touch and subtlety of expression vs. search for efficiency Tangibility / physicality: humans reach for, children experience the world through Some examples, not all leading to experiences, but meant as inspiration and fodder

Tangible Interfaces Merge physical with computational Also called Phidgets –Physical Widgets – ets/gallery/gallery.html Getting closer to real applications

Slide from lecture by Jason Hong metaDESK

Slide from lecture by Jason Hong Tradeoffs of Physical versus Digital Bits –represent all symbols –extremely flexible –quick to disseminate –cheap to reproduce –computational power Physical –direct manipulation –persistent –collaborative –affordances –multimodal Bits + Physical => Tangibles? – can we get the best of both worlds? – good physical representations of abstractions?

In Summary Human-computer interaction is heading in many exciting, new directions. Which ones will become part of our everyday lives?