Traditional database query systems allow users to construct complicated database queries from specialized database language primitives. While powerful and expressive, such systems are not easy to use, especially for browsing or exploring the data. Information visualization systems address this problem by providing graphical presentations of the data and direct manipulation tools for exploring the data. Recent work in this area has reported the value of dynamic queries coupled with two-dimensional data representations for progressive refinement of user queries. However, the queries generated by these systems are limited to conjunctions of global ranges of parameter values. In this paper, we extend dynamic queries by encoding each operand of the query as a Magic Lens filter. Compound queries can be constructed by overlapping the lenses. Each lens includes a slider and a set of buttons to control the value of the filter function and to define the compostion operation generated by overlapp...

We have built a system that allows users to naturally manipulate virtual 3D models with both hands on the Responsive Workbench, a tabletop VR device. Our design is largely based upon Guiard's observations of how humans distribute work between the two hands in the real world. We show how to apply these principles for the workbenchenvironment and describe many issues encountered during the design. We first develop a framework for two-handed interaction and then explore a variety of two-handed 3D tools and interactive techniques. Related issues include how constraints are implemented and controlled by the two hands and how transitions between one-handedandtwo-handed tasks occur seemlessly. Informal observations of the system in practice show that users can perform navigation and manipulation tasks easily and with little training using the two-handed environment. One of our interesting findings was that users often performed two-handed manipulations by combining two otherwise independent one-handed tools in a synergistic fashion. In these cases, we did not program two-handed behaviors explicitly into the system; instead they emerged naturally.

Information has become interactive. Information visualization is the design and creation of interactive graphic depictions of information by combining principles in the disciplines of graphic design, cognitive science, and interactive computer graphics. As the volume and complexity of the data increases, users require more powerful visualization tools that allow them to more effectively explore large abstract datasets. This

An experimental GUI paradigm is presented which is based on the design goals of maximizing the amount of screen used for application data, reducing the amount that the UI diverts visual attentions from the application data, and increasing the quality of input. In pursuit of these goals, we integrated the non-standard UI technologies of multi-sensor tablets, toolglass, transparent UI components, and marking menus. We describe a working prototype of our new paradigm, the rationale behind it and our experiences introducing it into an existing application. Finally, we presents some of the lessons learned: prototypes are useful to break the barriers imposed by conventional GUI design and some of their ideas can still be retrofitted seamlessly into products. Furthermore, the added functionality is not measured only in terms of user performance, but also by the quality of interaction, which allows artists to create new graphic vocabularies and graphic styles. KEYWORDS: two-handed input, toolglass, tablets, transparency, marking menus, task integration, divided attention

Desktop conferencing systems are now moving away from strict view-sharing and towards relaxed “what-you-see-iswhat-I-see” (relaxed-WYSIWIS) interfaces, where distributed participants in a real time session can view different parts of a shared visual workspace. As with strict view-sharing, people using relaxed-WYSIWIS require a sense of workspace awareness—the up-to-the-minute knowledge about another person’s interactions with the shared workspace. The problem is deciding how to provide a user with an appropriate level of awareness of what other participants are doing when they are working in different areas of the workspace. In this paper, we propose distortion oriented displays as a novel way of providing this awareness. These displays, which employ magnification lenses and fisheye view techniques, show global context and local detail within a single window, providing both peripheral and detailed awareness of other participants ’ actions. Three prototypes are presented as examples of groupware distortion-oriented displays: the fisheye text viewer, the offset lens, and the head-up lens.

www.dgp.toronto.edu Current user interface widgets typically assume that the input device can only provide x-y position and binary button press information. Other inputs such as the continuous pressure data provided by styluses on tablets are rarely used. We explore the design space of using the continuous pressure sensing capabilities of styluses to operate multi-state widgets. We present the results of a controlled experiment that investigates human ability to perform discrete target selection tasks by varying a stylus ’ pressure, with full or partial visual feedback. The experiment also considers different techniques for confirming selection once the target is acquired. Based on the experimental results, we discuss implications for the design of pressure sensitive widgets. A taxonomy of pressure widgets is presented, along with a set of initial concept sketches of various pressure widget designs.

We present EMMIE (Environment Management for Multiuser Information Environments), a prototype experimental user interface to a collaborative augmented environment. Users share a 3D virtual space and manipulate virtual objects that represent information to be discussed. We refer to EMMIE as a hybrid user interface because it combines a variety of different technologies and techniques, including virtual elements such as 3D widgets, and physical objects such as tracked displays and input devices. See-through headworn displays overlay the virtual environment on the physical environment, visualizing the pervasive “virtual ether” within which all interaction occurs. Our prototype includes additional 2D and 3D displays, ranging from palm-sized to wall-sized, allowing the most appropriate one to be used for any task. Objects can be moved among displays (including across dimensionalities) through drag & drop. In analogy to 2D window managers, we describe a prototype implementation of a shared 3D environment manager that is distributed across displays, machines, and operating systems. We also discuss two methods we are exploring for handling information privacy in such an environment. 1.

Projection technology has made large tiled displays an exciting feature of advanced visualization systems. However, one challenge to using such systems effectively is the development of input technologies that comfortably allow collaborative interaction with the displayed data on these large surfaces. We have developed an input system that allows any number of users to interact simultaneously with data on a large display surface. In this system, each user utilizes a laser pointer as a pen or pointing device. Using computer vision techniques, the system determines the beginning, continuation, and end of all currently active pointer strokes. The coordinates of each stroke are available for use by applications. This system scales well with display size, display resolution, and number of users.

We describe a new type of graphical user interface widget, known as a “tracking menu. ” A tracking menu consists of a cluster of graphical buttons, and as with traditional menus, the cursor can be moved within the menu to select and interact with items. However, unlike traditional menus, when the cursor hits the edge of the menu, the menu moves to continue tracking the cursor. Thus, the menu always stays under the cursor and close at hand. In this paper we define the behavior of tracking menus, show unique affordances of the widget, present a variety of examples, and discuss design characteristics. We examine one tracking menu design in detail, reporting on usability studies and our experience integrating the technique into a commercial application for the Tablet PC. While user interface issues on the Tablet PC, such as preventing round trips to tool palettes with the pen, inspired tracking menus, the design also works well with a standard mouse and keyboard configuration.

We introduce Side Views, a user interface mechanism that provides on-demand, persistent, and dynamic previews of commands. Side Views are designed to explicitly support the practices and needs of expert users engaged in openended tasks. In this paper, we summarize results from field studies of expert users that motivated this work, then discuss the design of Side Views in detail. We show how Side Views ’ design affords their use as tools for clarifying, comparing, and contrasting commands; generating alternative visualizations; experimenting without modifying the original data (i.e., “what-if ” tools); and as tools that support the serendipitous discovery of viable alternatives. We then convey lessons learned from implementing Side Views in two sample applications, a rich text editor and an