This paper presents our vision of Human Computer Interaction (HCI): "Tangible Bits." Tangible Bits allows users to "grasp & manipulate" bits in the center of users' attention by coupling the bits with everyday physical objects and architectural surfaces. Tangible Bits also enables users to be aware of background bits at the periphery of human perception using ambient display media such as light, sound, airflow, and water movement in an augmented space. The goal of Tangible Bits is to bridge the gaps between both cyberspace and the physical environment, as well as the foreground and background of human activities. This paper describes three key concepts of Tangible Bits: interactive surfaces; the coupling of bits with graspable physical objects; and ambient media for background awareness. We illustrate these concepts with three prototype systems -- the metaDESK, transBOARD and ambientROOM -- to identify underlying research issues. Keywords tangible user interface, ambient media, gras...

Context-aware computing is a mobile computing paradigm in which applications can discover and take advantage of contextual information (such as user location, time of day, nearby people and devices, and user activity). Since it was proposed about a decade ago, many researchers have studied this topic and built several context-aware applications to demonstrate the usefulness of this new technology. Context-aware applications (or the system infrastructure to support them), however, have never been widely available to everyday users. In this survey of research on context-aware systems and applications, we looked in depth at the types of context used and models of context information, at systems that support collecting and disseminating context, and at applications that adapt to the changing context. Through this survey, it is clear that context-aware research is an old but rich area for research. The difficulties and possible solutions we outline serve as guidance for researchers hoping to make context-aware computing a reality. 1.

Configuration of the computing and communications systems found at home and in the workplace is a complex task that currently requires the attention of the user. Recently, researchers have begun to examine computers that would autonomously change their functionality based on observations of who or what was around them. By determining their context, using input from sensor systems distributed throughout the environment, computing devices could personalize themselves to their current user, adapt their behavior according to their location, or react to their surroundings. The authors present a novel sensor system, suitable for large-scale deployment in indoor environments, which allows the locations of people and equipment to be accurately determined. We also describe some of the context-aware applications that might make use of this fine-grained location information.

We introduce the concept of Graspable User Interfaces which allow direct control of electronic or virtual objects through physical handles for control. These physical artifacts are essentially new input devices which can be tightly coupled or “attached ” to virtual objects for manipulation or for expressing action (e.g., to set parameters or for initiating processes). We present three steps in the development of these ideas. First, as a note on research methodology, we outline a series of exploratory studies that were conducted. Secondly, we describe a prototype system called "Bricks " and a sample application, GraspDraw, which was developed to investigate the Graspable UI concepts and to design new one- and twohanded interaction techniques. The physical artifacts, or bricks, operate on top of a large horizontal display surface known as the ActiveDesk. Finally, we conclude by presenting a design space for Bricks which lay the foundation for further exploring and developing graspable user interfaces.

We describe a prototype system that combines together the overlaid 3D graphics of augmented reality with the untethered freedom of mobile computing. The goal is to explore how these two technologies might together make possible wearable computer systems that can support users in their everyday interactions with the world. We introduce an application that presents information about our university’s campus, using a head-tracked, see-through, headworn, 3D display, and an untracked, opaque, handheld, 2D display with stylus and trackpad. We provide an illustrated explanation of how our prototype is used, and describe our rationale behind designing its software infrastructure and selecting the hardware on which it runs.

This paper surveys the field of Augmented Reality, in which 3-D virtual objects are integrated into a 3-D real environment in real time. It describes the medical, manufacturing, visualization, path planning, entertainment and military applications that have been explored. This paper describes the characteristics of Augmented Reality systems, including a detailed discussion of the tradeoffs between optical and video blending approaches. Registration and sensing errors are two of the biggest problems in building effective Augmented Reality systems, so this paper summarizes current efforts to overcome these problems. Future directions and areas requiring further research are discussed. This survey provides a starting point for anyone interested in researching or using Augmented Reality. 1. Introduction 1.1 Goals This paper surveys the current state-of-the-art in Augmented Reality. It describes work performed at many different sites and explains the issues and problems encountered when ...

We describe the i-LAND environment which constitutes an example of our vision of the workspaces of the future, in this case supporting cooperative work of dynamic teams with changing needs. i-LAND requires and provides new forms of human-computer interaction and new forms of computer-supported cooperative work. Its design is based on an integration of information and architectural spaces, implications of new work practices and an empirical requirements study informing our design. i-LAND consists of several ‘roomware ’ components, i.e. computer-augmented objects integrating room elements with information technology. We present the current realization of i-LAND in terms of an interactive electronic wall, an interactive table, two computer-enhanced chairs, and two “bridges” for the Passage-mechanism. This is complemented by the description of the creativity support application and the technological infrastructure. The paper is accompanied by a video figure in the CHI’99 video program.

The role of computers in the modern office has tended to split our activities between virtual interactions in the realm of the computer and physical interactions with real objects that have been part of the traditional office infrastructure. This paper discusses a variety of scenarios we have implemented in which the physical world can be invisibly and seamlessly augmented with electronic tags in order to connect physical objects with virtual representations or computational functionality. We demonstrate the utility of linking physical objects to electronic services and actions that are naturally associated with their form (e.g., a dictionary and a web-based translation service). Unlike previous work in this area, we have focused on uniquely combining four inexpensive technologies with off-the-shelf applications, everyday objects, and computational devices. KEYWORDS: RFID tag, ubiquitous computing, tangible interface, physical UI, phicon, augmented reality. INTRODUCTION Six years ag...

Current user interface techniques such as WIMP or the desktop metaphor do not support real world tasks, because the focus of these user interfaces is only on human-computer interactions, not on human-real world interactions. In this paper, we propose a method of building computer augmented environments using a situation-aware portable device. This device, called NaviCam, has the ability to recognize the user's situation by detecting color-code IDs in real world environments. It displays situation sensitive information by superimposing messages on its video see-through screen. Combination of ID-awareness and portable video-see-through display solves several problems with current ubiquitous computers systems and augmented reality systems.

We describe sensing techniques motivated by unique aspects of human-computer interaction with handheld devices in mobile settings. Special features of mobile interaction include changing orientation and position, changing venues, the use of computing as auxiliary to ongoing, real-world activities like talking to a colleague, and the general intimacy of use for such devices. We introduce and integrate a set of sensors into a handheld device, and demonstrate several new functionalities engendered by the sensors, such as recording memos when the device is held like a cell phone, switching between portrait and landscape display modes by holding the device in the desired orientation, automatically powering up the device when the user picks it up the device to start using it, and scrolling the display using tilt. We present an informal experiment, initial usability testing results, and user reactions to these techniques.