Sunday, February 27, 2011
Why GUI to NUI? Why WIMP to post-WIMP? Do we have the seeds of a manifesto?!
I think we have the beginnings of a GUI to NUI/ postWIMP manifesto here.
In Chapter 1 of Natural User Interfaces in .NET, Josh Blake asks and answers a question posed by many people who have been under the spell of keyboard input and GUI/ WIMP interaction:
Why bother switching from GUI to NUI? The answer? Read Chapter 1 (pdf) of the book - the chapter is free.
Here are a few of my personal reasons:
1. I want to buy the next version of the iPad or something like it.
2. I want to buy a new large-screen Internet HD TV.
People with special needs and/or health concerns, and the people who care and guide them.
Knowledge sharers and (life-long) learners....
RELATED
RELATED - and somewhat related
GUI to NUI Post-WIMP Manifesto: TBA
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Missed the recent 2009 Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces?
I posted about this conference previously, and thought I'd provide links to more information about the people behind this conference. I'd also like to provide more information, such as video demos and links to papers related to this conference.
Invited Speakers
Ken Perlin, Chia Shen, & Bill Buxton
2009 Program
Steering Committee, ITS 2009
Chia Shen, Harvard University, USA
Bruce H. Thomas, University of South Australia, Australia
Sheelagh Carpendale, University of Calgary, Canada
Gerald Morrison, SMART Technologies ULC, Canada
Andy Wilson, Microsoft Research, USA
Sriram Subramanian, Bristol University, UK
Shahram Izadi, Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK
Program Committee, ITS 2009
Patrick Baudisch
Hasso Plattner Institute Potsdam, Germany
Francois Berard
University of Grenoble, France
Peter Brandl
Media Interaction Lab, Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Andreas Butz
University of Munich, Germany
Francois Coldefy
Orange Labs, France
Morten Fjeld Chalmers
University of Technology, Sweden
Kentaro Fukuchi
University of Electro-Communications, Japan
Tovi Grossman
Autodesk Research, Canada
Mark Hancock
University of Calgary, Canada
Petra Isenberg
University of Calgary, Canada
Yuichi Itoh
Osaka University, Japan
Karrie Karahalios
University of Illinois, USA
Hiro Kato
Osaka University, Japan
Hideki Koike
University of Electro-Communications, Japan
Frank Maurer
University of Calgary, Canada
Max Mühlhäuser
TU Darmstadt, Germany
Christian Muller-Tomfelde
CSIRO-ICT Centre, Australia
Miguel Nacenta
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
Patrick Olivier
Newcastle University, UK
Jun Rekimoto
Sony / University of Tokyo, Japan
Meredith Ringel Morris
Microsoft Research, USA
Daisuke Sakamoto
Tokyo University, Japan
Yoichi Sato
University of Tokyo, Japan
Chia Shen
Harvard University, USA
Masahiro Takatsuka
University of Sydney, Australia
Lucia Terrenghi
Vodafone Group R&D, Germany
Bruce Thomas
University of Southern Australia, Australia
Melanie Tory
University of Victoria, Canada
Edward Tse
SMART Technologies, Canada
Fred Vernier
South-Paris University, France
Andy Wilson
Microsoft Research, USA
Massimo Zancanaro
Bruno Kessler Foundation (formerly ITC), Italy
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
UPDATE: Microsoft's SenseCam Aids Memory Recall
From the
"SenseCam is a wearable digital camera that is designed to take photographs passively, without user intervention, while it is being worn. Unlike a regular digital camera or a cameraphone, SenseCam does not have a viewfinder or a display that can be used to frame photos. Instead, it is fitted with a wide-angle (fish-eye) lens that maximizes its field-of-view. This ensures that nearly everything in the wearer’s view is captured by the camera, which is important because a regular wearable camera would likely produce many uninteresting images."
New study proves that Microsoft's sensory innovation aids memory recall
Technology Review Article
Images from Microsoft Research:
SenseCam Videos
Research and Publications
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Every Surface a Computer: "Scratch" - Capturing Finger Input on Surfaces using Sound. (Chris Harrison and Scott Hudson's Video - UIST '08)
Chris Harrison and Scott Hudson, from the Human-Computer Interaction Group at Carnegie-Mellon University, presented their latest research at the UIST '08 conference. Take a look at the video below to see how gestures that result in sounds can can transformed on unpowered finger input surfaces, using a stethoscope sensors and filters:
Yes, every surface is a computer!
(Even your pants...)
For detailed information, read the paper presented at UIST '08 by Chris Harrison and Scott E. Hudson:
Scratch Input: Creating Large, Inexpensive, Unpowered, and Mobile Finger Input Surfaces
RELATED:
The Best Paper Award at UIST '08 was "Bringing Physics to the Surface", by Andrew Wilson, of Microsoft Research, and Ahahram Izadi, Otmar Hilliges, Armando Garcia-Mendoza, and David Kirk, of Microsoft Research, Cambridge.
Here is the abstract:
"This paper explores the intersection of emerging surface technologies, capable of sensing multiple contacts and of-ten shape information, and advanced games physics engines. We define a technique for modeling the data sensed from such surfaces as input within a physics simulation. This affords the user the ability to interact with digital objects in ways analogous to manipulation of real objects. Our technique is capable of modeling both multiple contact points and more sophisticated shape information, such as the entire hand or other physical objects, and of mapping this user input to contact forces due to friction and collisions within the physics simulation. This enables a variety of fine-grained and casual interactions, supporting finger-based, whole-hand, and tangible input. We demonstrate how our technique can be used to add real-world dynamics to interactive surfaces such as a vision-based tabletop, creating a fluid and natural experience. Our approach hides from application developers many of the complexities inherent in using physics engines, allowing the creation of applications without preprogrammed interaction behavior or gesture recognition."
Preparation for the Internet of Surfaces & Things?
Saturday, May 24, 2008
More of Microsoft's Andy Wilson: Video of Surface Multi-Touch Computing
More multi-touch from Microsoft Research:
Andy Wilson's demo videos of his experimental work with multi-touch computing at Microsoft Research, from East Company Live. He answers questions and explains touch-screen technologies, interaction techniques,and the upcoming IEEE conference on Tabletop Computing this October. In Part III, Wilson mentions a DYI algorithm for image-processing in a paper from an ACM UIST conference:
Part I
PART II
PART III
I want this sort of technology in my hands because I think it would help special needs children in many ways. The table or drafting board form supports collaboration, communication, and it also might be good for cooperative learning projects. Microsoft's Social Computing Group is working on several applications that might be appropriate for surface computing, if properly adapted.
Meridith R. Morris, a researcher in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group at Microsoft, worked on a cooperative game for developing social skills among middle school students who had Asperger's Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, when she was a graduate student at Stanford.
SIDES: A Cooperative Tabletop Computer Game for Social Skills Development pdf
I know from my work as a school psychologist that more tools are needed to ensure that all children have access to engaging, meaningful learning experiences. Interactive whiteboards are great, but they are no substitute for a collaborative table!
I've been working on my own touch-screen "experiments" and ideas for over a year now, and would welcome the opportunity to test things with potential end-users, on a variety of displays and multi-touch formats. I think it would essential to develop and test multi-touch applications out of the lab.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Multitouch LaserTouch from Microsoft, Andy Wilson, Innovation..
I've been a Mac person since 1985, but I've warmed up to Microsoft a bit over the years. Microsoft Research is involved in many creative endeavors, despite how the company is personified by "PC" in Apple's MAC/PC commercials.
Ever since I had a chance to get my hands on an interactive whiteboard, I've been fascinated by large multi-touch and multi-user displays, and this fascination was part of my motivation to take graduate-level computer/IT classes at mid-life!
After spending an entire semester working on large touch-screen projects last year, Microsoft unveiled the Surface, which is not within my reach. Now that Bill Gate's mantra is "every surface to be a computer", there might be hope for people like me.
Via CNET news 8/14/08: "During his keynote Wednesday at the CEO Summit, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates shows off TouchWall, a 4-foot-by-6-foot touch-screen computer prototype."(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft Research's Andy Wilson developed the software for the LaserTouch prototype. Andy is a member of the Adaptive Systems and Interaction group.
The system will be less expensive than the Surface, but it is not yet ready for the masses:
Via CNET: "Andy Wilson, a researcher from Microsoft Research's Redmond, Wash., campus, demonstrates LaserTouch. An infrared camera tracks how he touches the screen to prompt a response from the software." (Credit: Stefanie Olsen/CNET News.com)
Related:
InfoWorld Article about TouchWall CNET TouchWall Article
InfoWorld Article about LaserTouch CNET LaserTouch Article
Natural User Interface - Innovative Multi-touch Solutions
NextWindow NextWindow Videoclips
Shahram Izadi's Research Website
TouchLight: An Imaging Touch Screen for Gesture-Based Interaction pdf
Interacting with Wall-Sized Screens pdf
The Large-Display User Experience pdf
IEEE Tabletops and Interactive Surfaces 2008 Conference Website
October 1-3, the Netherlands
Note: For those of you new to this blog, I've posted quite a bit about multi-touch displays, Microsoft's Surface table, urban screens and interfaces over the past year or so on the TSHWI and Interactive Multimedia Technology blogs. Also see the links on this blog's sidebars.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Microsoft Research: Being Human: Human Computer Interaction in the Year 2020
Being Human: Human Computer Interaction in the Year 2020
(Microsoft Research)
I'm reading this now and will update this post with my comments.
