Florian Block

The DeepTree Exhibit: Visualizing the Tree of Life to Facilitate Informal Learning

In this paper, we present the DeepTree exhibit, a multi-user, multi-touch interactive visualization of the Tree of Life. We developed DeepTree to facilitate collaborative learning of evolutionary concepts. We will describe an iterative process in which a team of computer scientists, learning scientists, biologists, and museum curators worked together throughout design, development, and evaluation. We present the importance of designing the interactions and the visualization hand-in-hand in order to facilitate active learning. The outcome of this process is a fractal-based tree layout that reduces visual complexity while being able to capture all life on earth; a custom rendering and navigation engine that prioritizes visual appeal and smooth fly-through; and a multi-user interface that encourages collaborative exploration while offering guided discovery. We present an evaluation showing that the large dataset encouraged free exploration, triggers emotional responses, and facilitates visitor engagement and informal learning.

Touch-display keyboards: transforming keyboards into interactive surfaces

In spite of many advances in GUI workstations, the keyboard has remained limited to text entry and basic command invocation. In this work, we introduce the Touch-Display Keyboard (TDK), a novel keyboard that combines the physical-ergonomic qualities of the conventional keyboard with dynamic display and touch-sensing embedded in each key. The TDK effectively transforms the keyboard into an interactive surface that is seamlessly integrated with the interaction space of GUIs, extending graphical output, mouse interaction and three-state input to the keyboard. This gives rise to an entirely new design space of interaction across keyboard, mouse and screen, for which we provide a first systematic analysis in this paper. We illustrate the emerging design opportunities with a host of novel interaction concepts and techniques, and show how these contribute to expressiveness of GUIs, exploration and learning of keyboard interfaces, and interface customization across graphics display and physical keyboard.

Towards a Playful User Interface for Home Entertainment Systems

In this paper we propose a tangible cube as an input device for playfully changing between different TV-channels. First we consider several design approaches and compare them. Based on a cube that has embedded gravity sensing and wireless communication capabilities a prototype is implemented. A 3D graphical representation of the cube is shown on the television screen. On each face of the cube a TV stream is rendered. The motion of the cube on the screen is connected to the rotation the user performs using the real tangible cube. Our hypotheses is that users can use the cube to browse between channels and to zap intuitively and playfully gaining a improved user experience even if the efficiency is limited compared to a remote control. We report on initial user feedback testing our hypothesis in witch we found out that users can easily use the cube without instructions and, despite technical limitations, see it as an improvement of current systems. Finally we discuss the issues that emerged from user’s feedback.

“Whoa! We’re going deep in the trees!”: Patterns of collaboration around an interactive information visualization exhibit

In this paper we present a qualitative analysis of natural history museum visitor interaction around a multi-touch tabletop exhibit called DeepTree that we designed around concepts of evolution and common descent. DeepTree combines several large scientific datasets and an innovative visualization technique to display a phylogenetic tree of life consisting of over 70,000 species. After describing our design, we present a study involving pairs of children interacting with DeepTree in two natural history museums. Our analysis focuses on two questions. First, how do dyads negotiate their moment-to-moment exploration of the exhibit? Second, how do dyads develop and negotiate their understanding of evolutionary concepts? In order to address these questions we present an analytical framework that describes dyads’ exploration along two dimensions: coordination and target of action. This framework reveals four distinct patterns of interaction, which, we argue, are relevant for similar interactive designs. We conclude with a discussion of the role of design in helping visitors make sense of interactive experiences involving the visualization of large scientific datasets.

FlowBlocks: a multi-touch ui for crowd interaction

Multi-touch technology lends itself to collaborative crowd interaction (CI). However, common tap-operated widgets are impractical for CI, since they are susceptible to accidental touches and interference from other users. We present a novel multi-touch interface called FlowBlocks in which every UI action is invoked through a small sequence of user actions: dragging parametric UI-Blocks, and dropping them over operational UI-Docks. The FlowBlocks approach is advantageous for CI because it a) makes accidental touches inconsequential; and b) introduces design parameters for mutual awareness, concurrent input, and conflict management. FlowBlocks was successfully used on the floor of a busy natural history museum. We present the complete design space and describe a year-long iterative design and evaluation process which employed the Rapid Iterative Test and Evaluation (RITE) method in a museum setting.

Pen and paper techniques for physical customisation of tabletop interfaces

An advantage of physical interfaces over graphical widgets is that they bring controls closer to hand. VoodooSketch is a system that supports dynamic customisation of tabletop interfaces with physical controls that users can arrange on palettes. The system employs pen and paper techniques to achieve two novel capabilities: first, users are able to sketch controls that are immediately operational for pen interaction; second, users can label the controls with a handwritten name that identifies their function and binds the control to an application. This paper presents the results of an empirical evaluation of the VoodooSketch interface customisation techniques. The main findings of the study are: that users are able to easily create sketched controls; that they can use them as effectively as traditional input devices; that handwritten labelling is more efficient for control mapping than conventional screen-based methods; and that the sketched controls improve user performance and reduce error rates.

FloTree: a multi-touch interactive simulation of evolutionary processes

We present FloTree, a multi-user simulation that illustrates key dynamic processes underlying evolutionary change. Our intention is to create a informal learning environment that links micro-level evolutionary processes to macro-level outcomes of speciation and biodiversity. On a multi-touch table, the simulation represents change from generation to generation in a population of organisms. By placing hands or arms on the surface, visitors can add environmental barriers, thus interrupting the genetic flow between the separated populations. This results in sub-populations that accumulate genetic differences independently over time, sometimes leading to the formation of new species. Learners can morph the result of the simulation into a corresponding phylogenetic tree. The free-form hand and body touch gestures invite creative input from users, encourages social interaction, and provides an opportunity for deep engagement.

A malleable physical interface for copying, pasting, and organizing digital clips

We present a system that extends a typical workstation environment with a malleable physical interface for working with digital clips. It allows users to pick digital clips, give each its own dedicated key for direct access, and combine keys dynamically on a physical surface in a way that inherently reflects the state of an extended clipboard. The system affords copying and pasting of multiple clips each directly accessible through its own key shortcut. The keys can also be dynamically re-arranged to organize clips, and taken from workstation to another to transport clips, acting simultaneously as token and as copy-paste-interface for a digital object.

Two-handed input in a standard configuration of notebook with external mouse

This paper discusses two-handed input for interaction with notebooks, motivated by the observation that notebooks are often used with an external mouse. We present results of a survey of 905 notebook users, of which 63.8% reported occasional, and 47.0% regular use of a mouse instead of the built-in pointing device (a touchpad in 95.8% of the reported configurations). Based on this finding, we propose use of the built-in touchpad with the non-dominant hand when an external mouse is used as primary pointing device. We provide a systematic analysis of the input space of such a configuration, and contribute a set of techniques that specifically exploit touchpad properties for input with the non-dominant hand. These techniques include flick, scale and rotate gestures; absolute positioning with tokens; and touchpad use as key modifier. The techniques are demonstrated in a variety of GUI applications in a standard environment of notebook with external mouse.

The impact of cognitive load on the perception of time

In cognitive psychology it is well known that cognitive load can have a significant impact on time perception. In this paper, we present an observation made during an empirical evaluation of several input techniques, showing that the cognitive load occurring during user input can significantly reduce perceived time. We provide a discussion of our findings, proposing that existing work in cognitive psychology, such as the Cognitive-Timer Model is applicable to HCI; and that this understanding can provide valuable information for predicting and actively modeling perceived input performance when designing user interfaces.