Designing for Gesture and Tangible Interaction. Mary Lou Maher
for the plan view and on the vertical screen for the perspective view.
2.2.5 SPATIAL RECONFIGURABILITY OF DEVICES
Tangible objects are discrete, spatially reconfigurable physical objects that represent and control digital information. Tangible objects enable reconfiguration, which provides the feeling that users are actually holding and rearranging the information itself. According to Fitzmaurice (1996), the spatial reconfiguration of physical elements such as placement, removal, orientation, and translation are the modes of interaction with tangible interfaces. Those physical controls generally communicate with the surrounding environment and contribute to its overall function and use. The value of discrete, spatially reconfigurable interactive devices goes beyond the value in grasping and rearranging the devices because the physicality of the device serves as a cognitive aid by providing an external cue for a particular function or data item. Users can rapidly reconfigure and rearrange the devices in a workspace and customize their space to suit their own needs in task workflows and task switching (Fitzmaurice, 1996). While this can be achieved in some WIMP interfaces, the use of tangible devices makes this reconfiguration as simple as holding the device and moving it to a new location.
1) Tangible Keyboard
Tangible Keyboard enables configuration of elements within an application or across applications. In the Pattern Maker application, each cube can represent a shape, color, or scale. Within that application, the display and meaning of a specific cube can be changed from a shape to a color to a scale. Across applications, when, for example, comparing the Pattern Maker application to the Silly Poems application, the display on a cube can be changed from a shape to a word. Seeing the Tangible Keyboard, even when it is not being used, conveys an interaction design of physical manipulation and spatial configuration of the physical elements within the interaction design.
2) Tangible Models
Tangible Models enables configuration of models within or across applications. Within an application, the 3D model associated with each block can be changed by selecting another object from the library to assign to a specific block. Across applications, the 3D models available to be selected for each block can be changed by selecting a different library of models. If configuring a structural engineering design, the library would comprise beams, columns, and floor panels instead of furniture and walls. Seeing a Tangible Models device, even when it is not being used, conveys an interaction design of physical manipulation due to the physical presence of blocks on a tabletop system.
2.3 WHAT ARE KEY DESIGN ISSUES FOR TANGIBLE USER INTERFACES?
TUIs show promise to significantly enhance computer-mediated support for a variety of application domains, including learning, problem solving, and entertainment. Also, TUIs offer the possibility of interfaces that are easy to learn and use. However, TUIs are currently considered challenging to design and build owing to a lack of existing software applications that can take advantage of continuous and parallel interactions, the lack of standard interaction models and abstractions for TUIs, and the need to cross disciplinary boundaries to effectively link the physical and digital worlds (Shaer et al., 2004; Shaer and Hornecker, 2010). This section discusses four design issues of TUIs based on Shaer and Jacob (2009);
1. designing interplay of virtual and physical;
2. selecting from multiple gestures and actions;
3. crossing disciplinary boundaries; and
4. the lack of standard input and output interaction models.
Explorations of these design issues provide us with an increasingly clearer picture of the strengths and limitations of TUIs. Good design aims to bring out the strengths and to alleviate weaknesses. In this section, we discuss some of the design issues of TUIs. However, it is important to note that TUI research is a growing and rapidly evolving field, and our understanding of the implications of TUI design requires further investigation. Building a TUI is a complex process that encompasses multidisciplinary knowledge, including computer science, design, and cognitive sciences. Many researchers and interaction designers have introduced a variety of techniques for designing and building novel TUIs. However, TUIs are not yet widely used commercially. Yet TUIs provide physical interfaces that have greater potential to reduce cognitive load and offer an intuitive interaction to support activities such as learning, problem solving, and design.
2.3.1 DESIGNING INTERPLAY OF VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL
TUIs can be considered a specific implementation of the original notion of ubiquitous computing, which aimed at allowing users to remain situated in the real world, while retaining the primacy of the physical world (Shaer and Hornecker, 2010; Wellner et al., 1993; Leigh et al., 2015). Since TUIs provide physical objects in order to interact with the virtual environment, they rely on metaphors that give physical form to digital information. The TUI designer determines which information is best represented digitally and which is best represented physically (Shaer and Jacob, 2009; Bakker et al., 2012; Want et al., 1999). Tangible Models is good example, because this platform uses augmented reality where digital images are superimposed on tangible blocks blending reality with virtuality. The ARToolKit is used to rapidly develop augmented reality applications. Spatially manipulated tangible blocks sit and operate on a large horizontal display. When designers manipulate multiple blocks, each block allows direct control of a virtual object by communicating digital information visually to the user. Through manipulating 3D tangible blocks, the designers also gain tactile feedback from their interaction (Abdelmohsen and Do, 2007; Anderson et al., 2000). TUI developers consider design issues such as physical syntax (Ullmer, 2002), dual feed-back loop (digital and physical), perceived coupling (the extent to which the link between user action and systems response is clear) (Hornecker and Buur, 2006), and observability (the extent to which the physical state of the system indicates its internal state) to make physical interaction devices understandable (Shaer and Jacob, 2009). It is a challenge to develop frameworks to provide the vocabulary for developing TUIs that link the virtual and physical. Therefore, the discussion, comparison, and refinement of designs with respect to these issues is often performed in an ad-hoc way that does not facilitate generalization (Shaer and Jacob, 2009).
Figure 2.4: (a) BUILD-IT bricks. Used with permission (Fjeld et al., 1997); (b) Interior Design application paddle. Used with permission (Kato et al., 2001); (c) ARTHUR wand. Used with permission (Nielsen et al., 2003).
1) Tangible Keyboard
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