The Sadeian interface: computers and catharsis

This paper explores the limitations of contemporary interface design and offers the potential of more profound forms of interaction by drawing on the rich and much older heritage of interactive art. Whilst HCI design is preoccupied with making the computer more simple to use, installation work, kinetic sculpture, and interactive multimedia art forms have generally been more concerned with the predicament of human/technological negotiation, whilst remaining a salient form of human communication. HCI activity sets out to make the complex systems of computing easy to understand and use, whilst interactive art often uses simple technology to make complex, inspiring and esoteric statements and experiences. In many ways the more simple and 'low resolution' the technology the more immersive, acute and intimate the experience. 'Low resolution' examples such as telephone-sex-lines are explored alongside more immersive systems, such as biofeedback interfaces, and other interactive experiments drawn from the 'technic' strand of art history.     

Expressive interfaces

Analysis of expressiveness in human gesture can lead to new paradigms for the design of improved human-machine interfaces, thus enhancing users participation and experience in mixed reality applications and context-aware mediated environments. The development of expressive interfaces decoding the highly affective information gestures convey opens novel perspectives in the design of interactive multimedia systems in several application domains: performing arts, museum exhibits, edutainment, entertainment, therapy, and rehabilitation. This paper describes some recent developments in our research on expressive interfaces by presenting computational models and algorithms for the real-time analysis of expressive gestures in human full-body movement. Such analysis is discussed both as an example and as a basic component for the development of effective expressive interfaces. As a concrete result of our research, a software platform named EyesWeb was developed (). Besides supporting research, EyesWeb has also been employed as a concrete tool and open platform for developing real-time interactive applications.     

The design of a handheld,location-aware guide for indoor environments

Because of the growing spread of mobile and small devices (like PDAs, mobile phones, etc.), designers and developers of interactive systems have to consider user mobility and the dynamic context of use. In this paper we discuss the design criteria we have defined for developing handheld location-aware systems for indoor environments. We analyse some of the technologies currently available for this purpose and examine how to use them in order to obtain location-dependent information. We report on our experience in designing a location-aware guide for museum visitors and identify possible design criteria for this type of system, which uses automatic detection of a change in environment to trigger the presentation of multi-modal, context-dependent information through a hand-held guide.     

DaisyViz: A model-based user interface toolkit for interactive information visualization systems

While information visualization technologies have transformed our life and work, designing information visualization systems still faces challenges. Non-expert users or end-users need toolkits that allow for rapid design and prototyping, along with supporting unified data structures suitable for different data types (e.g., tree, network, temporal, and multi-dimensional data), various visualization, interaction tasks. To address these issues, we designed DaisyViz, a model-based user interface toolkit, which enables end-users to rapidly develop domain-specific information visualization applications without traditional programming. DaisyViz is based on a user interface model for information (UIMI), which includes three declarative models: data model, visualization model, and control model. In the development process, a user first constructs a UIMI with interactive visual tools. The results of the UIMI are then parsed to generate a prototype system automatically. In this paper, we discuss the concept of UIMI, describe the architecture of DaisyViz, and show how to use DaisyViz to build an information visualization system. We also present a usability study of DaisyViz we conducted. Our findings indicate DaisyViz is an effective toolkit to help end-users build interactive information visualization systems.     

Intelligent human interface based on mental cloning-based software

This paper reports on our experience in adapting emotional experiences of the software engineers in the evolutionary design of software systems. This paper represents the progress report on the development relative to the state of art needed to have multidisciplinary technologies for establishing the best harmonica engagement between human user and software application, based on cognitive analysis. The best performance related engagement has been achieved using together both the facial and voice analysis. And through it, we have measured (collectivized and quantified) and observed the user behavior, and accordingly enhanced the engagement by generative interactive scenario. The approach has been experimented using a famous literature person (Keni Miyazawa).     

Reliable behaviour simulation of product interface in mixed reality

The validation of a product interface is often a critical issue in the design process. Virtual reality and mixed reality (MR) are able to enhance the interactive simulation of the product human–machine interface (HMI), as these technologies allow engineers to directly involve end users in the usability assessment. This paper describes a MR environment specifically addressed to the usability evaluation of a product interface, which allows the simulation of the HMI behaviour using the same models and the same software employed by engineers during the design phase. Our approach is based on the run-time connection between the visualisation software and the simulators used for product design and analysis. In particular, we use Matlab/Simulink to model and simulate the product behaviour, and Virtools to create the interactive MR environment in which the end user can test the product. Thanks to this architecture, any modification done on the behaviour models is immediately testable in MR.     

Helping users help themselves

Application-learning problems are a perennial design challenge. This persistent help-seeking behavior is forcing designers to wonder if any technologies for designing interactive help will satisfy the user as much as asking a real person. In addition to hypermedia applications, the paper considers several technologies explored as help systems. These technologies can easily provide a knowledgeable apprentice to help users accomplish their tasks, but they do pose challenges for interface design     

Slice and Dice: A Physicalization Workflow for Anatomical Edutainment

During the last decades, anatomy has become an interesting topic in education—even for laymen or schoolchildren. As medical imaging techniques become increasingly sophisticated, virtual anatomical education applications have emerged. Still, anatomical models are often preferred, as they facilitate 3D localization of anatomical structures. Recently, data physicalizations (i.e., physical visualizations) have proven to be effective and engaging—sometimes, even more than their virtual counterparts. So far, medical data physicalizations involve mainly 3D printing, which is still expensive and cumbersome. We investigate alternative forms of physicalizations, which use readily available technologies (home printers) and inexpensive materials (paper or semi-transparent films) to generate crafts for anatomical edutainment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first computer-generated crafting approach within an anatomical edutainment context. Our approach follows a cost-effective, simple, and easy-to-employ workflow, resulting in assemblable data sculptures (i.e., semi-transparent sliceforms). It primarily supports volumetric data (such as CT or MRI), but mesh data can also be imported. An octree slices the imported volume and an optimization step simplifies the slice configuration, proposing the optimal order for easy assembly. A packing algorithm places the resulting slices with their labels, annotations, and assembly instructions on a paper or transparent film of user-selected size, to be printed, assembled into a sliceform, and explored. We conducted two user studies to assess our approach, demonstrating that it is an initial positive step towards the successful creation of interactive and engaging anatomical physicalizations.     

海量模型实时交互可视化技术综述

综述了海量模型实时交互可视化的最新研究进展,详细讨论了其中涉及的主要支撑技术,并对目前国内外典型的交互绘制系统进行比较和分析;最后,对今后的发展方向进行了展望。     

Optimizing Structure Preserving Embedded Deformation for Resizing Images and Vector Art

Smart deformation and warping tools play an important part in modern day geometric modeling systems. They allow existing content to be stretched or scaled while preserving visually salient information. To date, these techniques have primarily focused on preserving local shape details, not taking into account important global structures such as symmetry and line features. In this work we present a novel framework that can be used to preserve the global structure in images and vector art. Such structures include symmetries and the spatial relations in shapes and line features in an image. Central to our method is a new formulation of preserving structure as an optimization problem. We use novel optimization strategies to achieve the interactive performance required by modern day modeling applications. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework by performing structure preservation deformation of images and complex vector art at interactive rates.     

RFID-based interactive multimedia system for the children

In this paper, we present an interactive edutainment system for the children that leverages multimedia and RFID technologies in a seamless manner. The proposed system allows children to learn about new objects/entities by tapping on physical objects through a specially designed RFID-Bluetooth based Tangible User Interface (TUI) tool. The output of the system is delivered as a set of appropriate multimedia representations related to the objects being tapped. The TUI uses RFID technology for object identification and Bluetooth communication to transmit data to the computer where the system??s software is running. We incorporated our system in three games that allow children of different ages to benefit from the system??s functionalities and encourage them to interact with it.     

Location-free haptic interaction for large-area social applications

In this paper, we discuss the potential of force perception technologies for realizing hand-held devices in the field of social systems. We propose and develop an interactive force-sensation-based navigation system for waiters based on a force perception technology that we have proposed. The navigation system consists of our new hand-held haptic interface and a camera-based position and posture identification system. Since the proposed compact haptic interface does not require external grounding, it can be used outside the laboratory and does not interrupt human activity. We verify the feasibility of the system in trials where we collected the responses of system users.     

When design just isn’t enough: the unanticipated challenges of the real world for large collaborative displays

Large interactive displays for supporting workgroup collaboration comprise a growing area of ubiquitous computing research and many such systems have been designed and deployed in laboratory studies and research settings. Such displays face difficulties in real-world deployments, as they are often supplemental technologies as opposed to primary tools for work activities. In this work, we investigate the integration and uptake of the NASA MERBoards, shared interactive displays that were deployed to support science tasks in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions. We examine the hurdles to adoption imposed specifically by the real-world circumstances of the deployment that were external to the design of the system, and explain how these concerns apply to the general deployment of shared ubicomp technologies in the real world.     

P. Fishwick (Ed.) Aesthetic Computing, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2006, ISBN 0-262-06250-X.

The questions raised in the Preface hopefully provoke a deep thinking of aesthetic computing as possibly a new discipline:

to what extent can the traditional definitions of aesthetics in computing and art be interrelated and connected, with each informing the other? What roles can quality, subjectivity, and emotion play in mathematics and computing as ways to achieve a balance between form and function? What are effective social frameworks in which artists, designers, mathematicians, and computer scientists can collaborate in teams or in distributed networks?

The viewpoints expressed and many examples demonstrated in this book, some of which bear deep root in arts and sciences, are stimulating and of great interest to anyone who is interested in both computing (or mathematics) and art. I was slightly disappointed in not seeing any discussion on color and form, two essential dimensions of arts and design, for their roles in aesthetic computing, particularly in visualization and interface design. Aesthetic computing being a field of study may be premature. We have however come to a stage when we can “afford” thinking of this idea. This is because the modern computer graphics and interface technologies are so advanced that guidelines for effective yet enjoyable human–computer interactions are greatly needed.     

The application of metaphor, analogy, and conceptual models in computer systems

People using computer systems naturally relate what they are experiencing to what they already know. This general cognitive process can be classified into metaphoric, analogical, and modelling processes. Metaphor, a term applied often to today's computer systems, is the process of representing the computer system with objects and events from a noncomputer domain, such as the popular desktop metaphor. Analogy is a comparison between objects or events that serve the same purpose but have different representations. Models are representations of the abstract conceptual structure of a computer system. This paper outlines the differences between these three processes and applies them to the computer domain. Implications for computer systems design are also discussed.     

基于手绘草图的概念设计工具研究与设计

从认知心理学的角度,研究了概念设计的过程,探讨性地指出辅助设计工具应当以灵感为中心。阐述了适合概念设计过程的新的设计方法和交互技术,并介绍了基于手势的草图技术及新一代交互范式——PIBG交互范式。全面分析了约束捕捉、约束求解等关键问题,最后在此基础上给出智能图板系统的设计与实现,为用户提供了一种自然和谐的界面。     

Toward an integrated digital museum system – the Chi Nan experiences

The essential activities of a museum are multifaceted and include collection, preservation, research, exhibition, education, and entertainment. Hence, the march toward a full-fledged digital museum must evolve from the digital library concept with the addition of various interactive edutainment modules. In this paper, we describe various phases of the digital museum systems constructed by the National Chi Nan University, Taiwan, over the past few years. The design concepts and integration issues of essential digital museum modules are addressed. We have as our long-term goal the construction of an integrated digital museum that provides digital archives with user-friendly information access interfaces, intriguing virtual exhibitions, adaptive online courseware, and adaptive interactive games. A mechanism to facilitate the implementation of large-scale aesthetic exhibitions has been proposed. Our approach, the fine-grained modularization of aesthetic hypermedia presentations, concerns the balance between the complexity in the authoring process, the aesthetic qualities of final hypermedia presentations, and efforts at style template implementation. Moreover, various experiences and evaluations of content-based image retrieval, online courseware, and online interactive games will also be addressed. Future work toward an integrated digital museum system is proposed. Our digital museums can be accessed at http://dlm.ncnu.edu.tw.     

Computer vision for artists and designers: pedagogic tools and techniques for novice programmers

This article attempts to demystify computer vision for novice programmers through a survey of new applications in the arts, system design considerations, and contemporary tools. It introduces the concept and gives a brief history of computer vision within interactive art from Myron Kruger to the present. Basic techniques of computer vision such as detecting motion and object tracking are discussed in addition to various software applications created for exploring the topic. As an example, the results of a one-week machine vision workshop are presented to show how designers are able to apply their skills toward creating novel uses of these technologies. The article concludes with a listing of code for basic computer vision techniques.