Jeevan James Kalanithi

Siftables: towards sensor network user interfaces

This paper outlines Siftables, a novel platform that applies technology and methodology from wireless sensor networks to tangible user interfaces in order to yield new possibilities for human-computer interaction. Siftables are compact devices with sensing, graphical display, and wireless communication. They can be physically manipulated as a group to interact with digital information and media. We discuss the unique affordances that a sensor network user interface (SNUI) such as Siftables provides, as well as the resulting directness between the physical interface and the data being manipulated. We conclude with a description of some gestural language primitives that we are currently prototyping with Siftables.

Sifteo cubes

In this paper we describe Sifteo cubes™, a tangible and graphical user interface platform. We note several patterns of use observed in homes and schools and identify design recommendations for display utilization on distributed interfaces like Sifteo cubes. Additionally we discuss the process of commercializing the research prototype to create a marketable game system.

Make a Riddle and TeleStory: designing children's applications for the siftables platform

We present the design of Make a Riddle and TeleStory, educational applications developed on the Siftables platform for children aged 4-7 years. Siftables are hybrid tangible-graphical user interface devices with motion and neighbor sensing, graphical display, and wireless communication. Siftables provide a unique opportunity to give children responsive feedback about the movement and arrangement of a distributed set of objects. We contrast the use case that includes an external display to their use as a standalone application platform. We outline design strategies for communicating information about the affordances of the Siftables and methods of providing dynamic feedback to encourage manipulation and to increase engagement during application use for hybrid tangible-graphical user interfaces.