Staffan Björk

WEST: a Web browser for small terminals

We describe WEST, a WEb browser for Small Terminals, that aims to solve some of the problems associated with accessing web pages on hand-held devices. Through a novel combination of text reduction and focus+context visualization, users can access web pages from a very limited display environment, since the system will provide an overview of the contents of a web page even when it is too large to be displayed in its entirety. To make maximum use of the limited resources available on a typical hand-held terminal, much of the most demanding work is done by a proxy server, allowing the terminal to concentrate on the task of providing responsive user interaction. The system makes use of some interaction concepts reminiscent of those defined in the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), making it possible to utilize the techniques described here for WAP-compliant devices and services that may become available in the near future.

A framework for focus+context visualization

This paper aims to give a systematic account of focus+context visualization techniques, i.e. visualizations which aim to give users integrated visual access to details and context in a data set. We introduce the notion that there are different orders of information visualization with focus+context being a second-order visualization and provide a formal framework for describing and constructing focus+context visualizations.

PowerView: structured access to integrated information on small screens

The PowerView application shows how non-standard graphical user interfaces, together with the introduction of links between data of different types, can ease the interaction with digital information on small mobile devices. The information visualization technique used provides a structured and efficient way of displaying information and allows navigation using only four operators. Links between data entries further improve the system by presenting related information together, even when the data belongs to different information domains, User evaluation has shown that the system is as easy to use by novice users as systems based on well-known user interface models.

An alternative to scrollbars on small screens

This paper describes a web-browser based on the focus+context technique Flip Zooming. A prototype was developed and evaluated against an ordinary web-browser that used scrollbars on a small screen with a resolution of 160*160 pixels. A preliminary evaluation show that the prototype provides better overview and makes searching for specific items easier compared to the traditional browser. These findings indicate that there are constraints that have to be acknowledged when designing the user interface on small screens.

The WearBoy: a platform for low-cost public wearable devices

We introduce the WearBoy-a wearable, modified Nintendo GameBoy-as a platform for exploring public wearable devices. We have minimized the size of a Color GameBoy circuit board to enable users to comfortably wear it, making the device not much larger than the actual screen. Technical properties of the WearBoy are discussed, along with two applications using the platform.