People have developed sophisticated skills for perceiving and
manipulating their physical environments. However, most of these
skills are not engaged by the traditional Graphical User Interface
(GUI) that has become the central approach in Human-Computer
Interaction (HCI) design. The GUI represents information mainly
as abstract pixels on flat rectangle screens, allowing people
to manipulate them only indirectly with a remote controller such
as a mouse and keyboard.
The Tangible User Interface (TUI) is an attempt to give physical
form to digital information, making bits directly manipulable
and perceptible by people. The goal of TUI research and design
is to build the next generation of interfaces that go beyond
the current and dominant GUI paradigm. TUI also aims at changing
the process of collaborative design through the creation of tangible
representations of ideas to support ideation stage of design.
This course will explore the design space of TUIs, a new form
of HCI, which focuses on the physical embodiment of computational
media. Tangible Interfaces will make bits accessible through
augmented physical surfaces (e.g. walls, desktops, ceilings,
windows), graspable objects (e.g. building blocks, models, instruments)
and ambient media (e.g. light, sound, airflow, water-flow, kinetic
sculpture) within physical environments.
This is a project course with enrollment limited to approximately
20 students to keep a design studio atmosphere. We will explore
different ways of broadening the bandwidth of interaction between
people and digital information through Tangible Interfaces that
help people learn, design, and communicate using the full range
of human senses and skills. We will pursue the interfaces that
are not only practical, but also aesthetically engaging.
For example, we explore the interfaces that allow users to “grasp & manipulate” information
by coupling digital information and computation with physical
objects on augmented surfaces, so that multiple users can have
direct access to the shared information space that supports
collaboration, and enable users to be aware of information
at the periphery
of human senses using ambient display media such as light,
sound, airflow, water movement, and kinetic sculpture in an
augmented
space, so that users can take advantage of peripheral awareness
while focusing on foreground task.
The goal of this course is to design new instances of Tangible
Interfaces that take advantage of physical affordance of objects
and spaces to achieve a legibility and seamlessness of interaction
not achievable with traditional GUI.
The instructor will provide:
• Background – HCI, GUI, Ubiquitous Computing,
Augmented Reality, CSCW
• Framework of TUIs,
• Examples and successful applications of TUIs, and
• Enabling technologies for TUIs.
Students will design/develop experimental Tangible Interfaces,
applications, underlying technologies, and/or theories using
concept sketches, posters, physical mockups, and working prototypes.
Studio discussion of ideas using tangible materials such as posters
and physical mockups are encouraged to refine the design collaboratively.
Over the course of the semester, each student is required to
complete one warm-up exercise, two design projects, and one final
presentation.
Grading is based on the following factors:
• Participation in class discussion and design exercise: 30%
(at least 80% of class attendance required.)
• Presentation of the completed first project: 20%
• Presentation of the completed second project: 30%
• Final project report in CHI short paper format: 20%
Final project reports must be submitted to the instructor in CHI short paper
format available at http://www.acm.org/sigchi/chipubform/ by the final class
in December. Submission of final project reports to CHI 2005 Short Talks and
Interactive Posters (2-page paper, deadline: December 13, 2004) is an option.
http://www.chi2005.org/cfp/late_breaking.html
Mailing list and URL:
ti04@media.mit.edu all the admitted students to MAS834 Fall 2004 + ti04-staff
ti04-staff@media.mit.edu instructors + TAs + admin assistant
http://tangible.media.mit.edu/courses/ti04/
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