Monday, November 30, 2009

Term Paper Abstract - Grant Reighard

In exploring how people interact with technology, I am looking at new(er) methods of input and feedback from the devices we use. When it comes to tactile and wearable interfaces, advances are pushing us away from just pointing and clicking with a mouse and typing on a keyboard in response to a graphical user interface (GUI). I would like to highlight some emerging and popular digital-physical hybrid technologies in the paper.

Touch screen technology, such as capacitive touch sensing is a relatively mature electronic technology that allows a user to interact directly with a 2D or 3D interface on a flat display. Not only good for ease of use and speed, this interface coupled with graphic layouts essentially are an extension of the person's hand, as they are using their fingers directly on the display.

Virtual Reality is a means of putting the user into a virtual space that is generally navigable through arm or leg motions, and a Head Mounted Display provides the visual feedback. This is useful for accessing fictional or experiential realms that are unattainable otherwise.

Augmented Reality is the concept of layering data and information over top of a (generally) live feed of audio or video. This is an incredible way to enhance our interactions of the physical world around us, by incorporating compiled metadata about the locations we visit. In a sense, this technique is similar to the way we interact with objects on a computer (access to description and other specific traits), but shifted to the real world.

http://science.jrank.org/pages/11562/Virtual-Reality-Cultural-Implications.html
http://www.guidebookgallery.org/articles/beyondthegui
http://www.immersence.com/publications/char/2003-CD-VSSM.html
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1409240.1409250
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=166134

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