Paradigms
of
Interaction
Time-sharing
• 1940s and 1950s – explosive technological
growth
• 1960s – need to channel the power
• J.C.R. Licklider at ARPA
• single computer supporting multiple users
Time-sharing is a technique which enables many
people, located at various terminals, to use a
particular computer system at the same time. Time-
sharing or multitasking is a logical extension of
multiprogramming. Processor's time which
is shared among multiple users simultaneously is
termed as time-sharing.
Video Display Units
• more suitable medium than paper
• 1962 – Sutherland's Sketchpad
• computers for visualizing and manipulating data
• one person's contribution could drastically
change the history of computing
A video display unit (VDU) consists of: A computer
output device that uses a cathode ray tube or
other technology to present visual images. One or
more input devices, such as a keyboard , a mouse ,
or both.
Programming toolkits
• Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute
• 1963 – augmenting man's intellect
• 1968 NLS/Augment system demonstration
• the right programming toolkit provides building
blocks to producing complex interactive systems
Programming toolkits are tools that
help programming with a
given programming language with the help of some
software engineering method
The power of programming toolkits is that small,
well-understood components can be composed in
fixed ways in order to create larger tools. Once
these larger tools become understood, they can
continue to be composed with other tools, and the
process continues.
GTK+ is also better known as the GIMP Toolkit that used for developing graphical user
interfaces. GTK+ is excellent for every project, ranging from small one-off tools to
complete application suites. It delivers a complete set of widgets.
Written in C++, Arabica is an XML, HTML processing toolkit, which is supportable to the most
platforms. This remarkable processing toolkit provides SAX, DOM, xPath and XSLT
implementation.
MRPT stands for Mobile Robot Programming
Toolkit that helps robotics researchers for
designing and implementing algorithms, which is
related to Simultaneous Localization and
Mapping (SLAM), computer vision and motion
planning (obstacle avoidance). It is a cross-
platform and open source C++ library that
implements projects in some of the major
robotics journals and conferences.
Personal computing
• 1970s – Papert's LOGO language for simple
graphics programming by children
• A system is more powerful as it becomes easier
to user
• Future of computing in small, powerful
machines dedicated to the individual
• Kay at Xerox PARC – the Dynabook as the
ultimate personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose
computer whose size, capabilities, and price make it
feasible for individual use.
Window systems and the WIMP interface
• humans can pursue more than one task at a
time
• windows used for dialogue partitioning, to
“change the topic”
• 1981 – Xerox Star first commercial windowing
system
• windows, icons, menus and pointers now
familiar interaction mechanisms
Metaphor
• relating computing to other real-world activity is
effective teaching technique
– LOGO's turtle dragging its tail
– file management on an office desktop
– word processing as typing
– financial analysis on spreadsheets
– virtual reality
– user inside the metaphor
• Problems
– some tasks do not fit into a given metaphor
– cultural bias
In user interface design, an interface metaphor is a
set of user interface visuals, actions and procedures
that exploit specific knowledge that users already
have of other domains. The purpose of the
interface metaphor is to give the user instantaneous
knowledge about how to interact with the user
interface.
Direct manipulation is an interaction style in which the
objects of interest in the UI are visible and can be acted
upon via physical, reversible, incremental actions that
receive immediate feedback.
-is an interaction style in which users act on displayed
objects of interest using physical, incremental, reversible
actions whose effects are immediately visible on the
screen.
-Ben Shneiderman first coined the term “direct
manipulation” in the early 1980s, at a time when the
dominant interaction style was the command line.
In command-line interfaces, the user must remember the
system label for a desired action, and type it in together
with the names for the objects of the action.
The traditional views of "data flow",
the language/action perspective emphasizes
what people DO while communicating; how
they create a common reality by means
of language and how communication brings
about a coordination of their activities.
Hypertext is text which contains links to other texts. The
term was coined by Ted Nelson around 1965 (see
History ). Hyper Media is a term used
for hypertext which is not constrained to be text: it can
include graphics, video and sound , for example.
Apparently Ted Nelson was the first to use this term too.
Hypertext is text displayed on a computer display or
other electronic devices with references to other text
that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext
documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are
typically activated by a mouse click, key press set or by
touching the screen.
Multimodality
• a mode is a human communication channel
• emphasis on simultaneous use of multiple
channels for input and output
Multimodal interaction
provides the user with
multiple modes of
interacting with a system.
A multimodal interface
provides several distinct
tools for input and output
of data. For example, a
multimodal question
answering system employs
multiple modalities at
both question and answer
level.
Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)
• CSCW removes bias of single user / single
computer system
• Can no longer neglect the social aspects
• Electronic mail is most prominent success
Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) consists of software
tools and technology that supports a group of individuals working on
projects at different sites. It is based on the principle of group
coordination and collaborative
activities supported through computer systems.
• CSCW
removes bias
of single
user / single
computer
system
• Can no
longer
neglect the
social aspects
• Electronic
mail is most
prominent
success
The World Wide Web
• Hypertext, as originally realized, was a closed
system
• Simple, universal protocols (e.g. HTTP) and
mark-up languages (e.g. HTML) made publishing
and accessing easy
• Critical mass of users lead to a complete
transformation of our information economy.
The World Wide Web, commonly known as the
Web, is an information system where documents
and other web resources are identified by Uniform
Resource Locators, which may be interlinked by
hypertext, and are accessible over the Internet
Agent-based Interfaces
• Original interfaces
– Commands given to computer
– Language-based
• Direct Manipulation/WIMP
– Commands performed on “world”
representation
– Action based
• Agents - return to language by instilling proactivity
and “intelligence” in command processor
– Avatars, natural language processing
Interface agents
are computer programs that provide
personalized assistance to users with their
computer-based tasks. Most interface agents
achieve personalization by learning a user's
preferences in a given application domain and
assisting him according to them. In this work we
adopt a different approach to personalization:
how to personalize the interaction between
interface agents and users in a mixed-initiative
interaction context
Ubiquitous Computing
“The most profound technologies are those that
disappear.” Mark Weiser, 1991
Late 1980’s: computer was very apparent
How to make it disappear?
– Shrink and embed/distribute it in the physical
world
– Design interactions that don’t demand our
intention
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in
software engineering and computer science
where computing is made to appear anytime and
everywhere. In contrast to
desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur
using any device, in any location, and in any format.
Sensor-based and Context aware Interaction
• Humans are good at recognizing the “context”
of a situation and reacting appropriately
• Automatically sensing physical phenomena (e.g.,
light, temp, location, identity) becoming easier
• How can we go from sensed physical measures
to interactions that behave as if made “aware” of
the surroundings?
Questions?
Thank you