Bill Buxton

Tracking menus

We describe a new type of graphical user interface widget, known as a tracking menu. A tracking menu consists of a cluster of graphical buttons, and as with traditional menus, the cursor can be moved within the menu to select and interact with items. However, unlike traditional menus, when the cursor hits the edge of the menu, the menu moves to continue tracking the cursor. Thus, the menu always stays under the cursor and close at hand.In this paper we define the behavior of tracking menus, show unique affordances of the widget, present a variety of examples, and discuss design characteristics. We examine one tracking menu design in detail, reporting on usability studies and our experience integrating the technique into a commercial application for the Tablet PC. While user interface issues on the Tablet PC, such as preventing round trips to tool palettes with the pen, inspired tracking menus, the design also works well with a standard mouse and keyboard configuration.

Boom chameleon: simultaneous capture of 3D viewpoint, voice and gesture annotations on a spatially-aware display

We introduce the Boom Chameleon, a novel input/output device consisting of a flat-panel display mounted on a tracked mechanical boom. The display acts as a physical window into 3D virtual environments, through which a one-to-one mapping between real and virtual space is preserved. The Boom Chameleon is further augmented with a touch-screen and a microphone/speaker combination. We present a 3D annotation application that exploits this unique configuration in order to simultaneously capture viewpoint, voice and gesture information. Design issues are discussed and results of an informal user study on the device and annotation software are presented. The results show that the Boom Chameleon annotation facilities have the potential to be an effective, easy to learn and operate 3D design review system.

Creating principal 3D curves with digital tape drawing

Previous systems have explored the challenges of designing an interface for automotive styling which combine the metaphor of 2D drawing using physical tape with the simultaneous creation and management of a corresponding virtual 3D model. These systems have been limited to only 2D planar curves while typically the principal characteristic curves of an automotive design are three dimensional and non-planar. We present a system which addresses this limitation. Our system allows a designer to construct these non-planar 3D curves by drawing a series of 2D curves using the 2D tape drawing technique and interaction style. These results are generally applicable to the interface design of 3D modeling applications and also to the design of arms length interaction on large scale display systems

Interaction techniques for 3D modeling on large displays

We present an alternate interface for 3D modeling for use on large scale displays. The interface integrates several concepts specifically selected and enhanced for large scale interaction. These include 2D construction planes spatially integrated in a 3D volume, enhanced orthographic views, smooth transitions between 2D and 3D views, tape drawing as the primary curve and line creation technique, visual viewpoint markers, and continuous twohanded interaction.

HMDs, caves & chameleon: a human-centric analysis of interaction in virtual space

There are a various approaches to implementing virtual reality (VR) systems. The head mounted display (HMD) and Cave approaches are two of the best known. In this paper, we discuss such approaches from the perspective of the types of interaction that they afford. Our analysis looks at interaction from three perspectives: solo interaction, collaborative interaction in the same physical space and remote collaboration. From this analysis emerges a basic taxonomy that is intended to help systems designers make choices that better match their implementation with the needs of their application and users.

A GUI paradigm using tablets, two-hands and transparency

An experimental GUI paradigm is presented which is based on the design goals of maximizing the amount of screen used for application data, reducing the amount that the UI diverts visual attentions from the application data, and increasing the quality of input. In pursuit of these goals, we integrated the non-standard UI technologies of multi-sensor tablets, toolglass [1], transparent UI components [4], and marking menus [6]. While our prototypes and efforts focus within the domain of creating digital art, we believe the concepts and lessons learned are generalizable to other domains. The video shows three main segments: (1) motivation by showing an artist using traditional paper-based interactions, (2) a prototype system called T3 and (3) integration of the concepts into StudioPaint, a high end commercial paint application.

Compatability and interaction style in computer graphics

Recent trends in human computer interaction have focused on representations based on physical reality [4, 5, 6, 8]. The idea is to provide richer, more intuitive handles for control and manipulation compared to traditional graphical user interfaces (GUIs) using a mouse. This trend underscores the need to examine the concept of manipulation and to further understand what we want to manipulate versus what we can easily manipulate. Implicit in this is the notion that the bias of the UI is often incompatible with user needs.The main goal of UI design is to reduce complexity while augmenting the ability of users to get their work done. A fundamental belief underlying our research is that complexity lies not only in what is purchased from the software and hardware manufacturers, but also in what the user creates with it. It is not just a question of making buttons and menus easier to learn and more efficient to use. It is also a question of Given that Ive created this surface in this way, how can it now be modified to achieve my current design objective? (The observation is that how the user created the surface in the first place will affect the answer to the question.) Our thesis is that appropriate design of the system can minimize both kinds of complexity: that inherent in accessing the functionality provided by the vendor, and that created by the user. The literature focuses on the former. In what follows, we investigate some of the issues in achieving the latter. In so doing, we structure our discussion around questions of compatibility.

Interfaces for humans (panel): natural interaction, tangible data, and beyond

When users talk about computers, they usually describe the interfaces, because, for most users, the interface is the system. As Bill Buxton says, “The most powerful force in shaping people’s mental model of the nature of the beast is that which they see, feel, and hear.” It seemed to take forever for toggle-switch panels to evolve into today’s WIMPs, and both are still visual/motor-based controls; in fact, switch panels were probably more haptically satisfying! “Keyboards only work for people who know the Roman alphabet. In 20 years, people will laugh at us for calling that technology,” says Mark Lucente.

The future of computer graphics: an enabling technology?

Computer graphics research and hardware has matured as a field to the point that high-quality computer graphics is becoming ubiquitous. Computer graphics shortly will be where word processing is today: everyone uses it, but there are very few people doing basic research in word processing. All of the challenges lie in the applications and use of this technology to enable advances in many fields. This panel will combine experts in computer graphics and associated technology with experts from a few applications areas to discuss the possibilities and future ways that computer graphics can advance discovery in many fields.

The sorcerer's apprentice (panel): ubiquitous computing and graphics

The key here is where, when, and how computation is exercised, with the attendant divergence (as opposed to convergence) of computation. Thus, when walking through an animation studio, we will be able to determine if we are in the character animation department or the accounting department simply by looking at the tools being used (something not possible today, given that the computers are almost interchangeable from a design perspective.) Likewise, we will see a move to embedded systems, where the computation is integrated seamlessly into what appear to be common devices.