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Research |
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Humans can
build complex shapes using physical building blocks, sand or snow, from very early
age. However, few computer users can design even relatively simple 3D
structures using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. The reason is the lack
of an interface that can fully exploits human spatiality, our innate ability
to act in physical space and to interact with physical objects. |
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Tangible
User Interfaces (TUIs) are an attempt to broaden
the relationship between physical objects and digital information. TUIs were first introduced in Fitzmaurice, Ishii and
Buxton’s “graspable
user interfaces” and later established by Ullmer and Ishii and their colleagues at the MIT Tangible Media Lab. Many
of the ideas underlying TUIs can be found in
seminal work by Robert Aish, John Frazer and others
(for an
overview follow this link). For a good review of TUIs refer to Ullmer and
Ishii’s “Emerging
Frameworks for Tangible User Interfaces”. |
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Our
research efforts focus on a subgroup of TUIs we dub
“Spatial TUIs”, TUIs that mediate interaction with shape, space and structure. We design
and analyze TUIs following a set of heuristics
which we developed based on the simple observation that, no matter how
computerized they are, TUIs are still physical
objects manipulated by humans. Our approach is summarized in the following
publication: E.
Sharlin, B. A. Watson, Y. Kitamura, F. Kishino, and
Y. Itoh, "On Tangible User Interfaces, Humans
and Spatiality," Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, special issue
on "Tangible Interfaces in Perspective", September 2004, to appear <PDF>. We are
developing and testing several spatial TUIs,
strongly coupling them to applications in which we believe they will
demonstrate superiority over existing tools and break new ground. Since TUIs are still in their infancy, we have to compromise
with their current low expressiveness. We suggest two applied domains in
which, arguably, TUIs current lack of
expressiveness is not necessarily a weakness: TUIs
for the visually impaired and cognitive TUIs, TUIs for cognitive assessment and training. |
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Our first
cognitive TUIs research effort is the cognitive
cubes system. Cognitive cubes is a TUI-based system
for cognitive assessment of constructional ability. Cognitive cubes are
closely based on ActiveCube and were successfully tested
with healthy young and healthy elderly participants, and with participants
suffering from mild Alzheimer Disease (AD). To the best of our knowledge
cognitive cubes is the first automated system for assessment of
constructional ability. Our current Cognitive Cubes publications are: E. Sharlin, Y. Itoh, B. A. Watson, Y. Kitamura, S. Sutphen,
L. Liu, and F. Kishino, "Spatial Tangible User
Interfaces for Cognitive Assessment and Training", in Bio-ADIT 2004.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland: Springer,
January 2004, to appear. <PDF>. E. Sharlin, Y. Itoh, B. A. Watson, Y. Kitamura, S. Sutphen,
and L. Liu, "Cognitive Cubes: a Tangible User Interface for Cognitive
Assessment", in Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 2002.
Minneapolis, US: ACM, April, 2002, pp. 347-354. Paper <PDF>,
talk <PDF>. Y. Itoh,
E. Sharlin, Y. Kitamura, F. Kishino, B.A. Watson,
S. Sutphen, L. Liu, “A User Interface for
Cognitive Assessment with ActiveCube”. IPSJ SIGNotes Human Interface Abstract No.098 – 009.
Information Processing Society of Japan, 2002, pp. 55-64. <PDF> |
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Our second
cognitive TUI is the Cognitive Map Probe (CMP). The CMP is a TUI for
assessment of cognitive mapping ability (which underlies human wayfinding
ability). The CMP also has a
non-TUI, Windows-Icons-Menus-Pointers (WIMP) replica and was tested successfully
with young, elderly and mild AD participants. Our current CMP publications
are: E. Sharlin, B. A. Watson,
L. Liu, S. Sutphen, R. Lederer,
P. Figueroa, and J. Frazer, "Printing Virtual Reality Interfaces: the
Cognitive Map Probe", in The Future of VR and AR Interfaces:
multi-modal, humanoid, adaptive and
intelligent. Proc.
Workshop IEEE Virtual Reality 01.' GMD Report 138, W. Broll
and L. Schafer, Eds. GMD - German National Research Center for Information Technology., July, 2001, pp. 40-42. <PDF>. L. Liu, E. Sharlin, B. A.
Watson, and S. Sutphen, "Assessing Wayfinding
Ability using Virtual Reality", Abstract and presentation at the
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists National Conference. Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada, May, 2003. E. Sharlin, B. A. Watson,
L. Liu, S. Sutphen, R. Lederer,
P. Figueroa, and J.Frazer, "Assessmentville - a Preview", poster <Poster PDF> and
abstract <abstract PDF>
at Graphics Interface 2001. Ottawa, Canada, June, 2001. A. Cho,
R. Lederer, E. Sharlin, B. A. Watson, L. Liu, and
S. Sutphen, "Designing Virtual Worlds - the
Cognitive Map Probe", in Proc. 13th Western Canadian Computer Graphics
Symposium. Silver Star, BC, Canada, March, 2002. <PDF> S. Sutphen,
E. Sharlin, B. A. Watson, and J. Frazer, "Reviving a Tangible Interface
Affording 3D Spatial Interaction", in Proc. 11th Western Canadian
Computer Graphics Symposium. Panorama, BC, Canada, March, 2000, pp. 155-166. <PDF> E.
Sharlin, B. A. Watson, L. Liu, S. Sutphen, J.
Frazer, and R. Lederer, "A Tangible User
Interface for Assessing Cognitive Mapping Ability", Technical report
NWU-CS-02-14, 2003. <PDF> |
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Another
research effort that concerns spatiality, but from a different point-of-view
is an inexpensive and simple optical tracker for the CAVE, based on a
structured light technique. This effort is summarized in the following
publication: E.
Sharlin, M. Green, B. A. Watson, and P. Figueroa, "A Wireless, Inexpensive
Optical Tracker for the CAVE", in Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual
Reality 2000. New Brunswick, New Jersey, March, 2000, pp. 271-278. <PDF>. |
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In an attempt
to push the spatiality in HCI even further, Andrea
Mazzone (ETH Zurich), his colleagues and us are pursuing new ways
of designing and implementing digital clay, a TUI that can input and output
3D shape and structure. |
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We are
thinking of ways of implementing Bob Shaw’s “slow
glass” (though we will probably settle on bits rather than
photons and matter). |
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I took this picture from the
wonderful scifi.com. Please
follow this link
to read Bob Shaw’s inspiring “Slow Glass” story—“Light
of Other Days”. |
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We see an important
future role for TUIs as interaction aids for the
visually impaired. We are currently designing the “tangible
pathfinder” to allow a visually impaired user to autonomously learn a
new place, self-assess the resulting cognitive map and eventually assist the
on-site navigation of the environment. Our preliminary work is summarized in
the following short publication: E.
Sharlin, B. A. Watson, Y. Kitamura, D. Rorabeck, R.
Lederer, S. Sutphen, M. Takimoto and F. Kishino,
“The Tangible Pathfinder—Design of a Wayfinding Trainer for the
Visually Impaired”, poster <poster PDF> and abstract <abstract PDF> at Graphics
Interface 2004. |
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Other than
TUIs, my general research interests cover many HCI
themes: VR; MR; sensing and tracking; human-robot interaction; teleoperation and telepresence;
computer games; and biomedical, psychological, educational and rehabilitation
applications. |
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