REBECCA E SPITZER

In researching various things for my thesis, I ran across this tidbit. I think it’s from Rheingold’s Smart Mobs, but I’ve been through so many books the last few days I can’t put my finger on it.

Anyways. This comes from the middle of a discussion about ubiquitous computing and the idea of phicons.

“The Media Lab is, above all, a place where people build working models of wild ideas like phicons. Ishii led me to a wide, blank table surface. At the edge of the table were several wooden objects the size of large alphabet blocks. One of them was a model of MIT’s landmark dome. I picked it up and put it on the table. The blank table turned into a map of the MIT campus. I moved the phicon, and the map moved. I rotated the phicon, and the map rotated. Ishii handed me a second object, which was recognizable as a model of the I M Pei designed Media Lab building. I put it down on the table and the map shifted to that both the dome and the lab were in their proper places. I shifted one, then the other phicon; the map shifted to adjust, so that both buildings were always in correct juxtaposition to the rest of the landscape.”

I don’t believe we saw this TUI in particular this semester, but it strikes me as another simply perfect use of that kind of tabletop phicon interface. The model isn’t right for a lot of things, but for a map – it’s perfect. A brilliantly clear and concise explanation of what is a clear and concise TUI. That’s how you know something is right: it’s easy to explain.

On a similar but more reflective note, this semester in tangible user interfaces has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I’m increasingly inspired by the image and idea of truly ubiquitous computing. I will admit that my visions aren’t of a typical TUI world where EVERY object has a tag or a URL or embedded chips; they’re more like of a world where every surface is computerized and all your data is stored in the epic data cloud, so every wall and table knows who you are and what you want… anyways! Enough.

Strangely, one of the things I’ve taken away most strongly is something one of the guest speakers talked about. We discussed the difference between treating technology as your really smart friend versus treating technology as an extension of yourself, like a third limb. The conversation was actually about the difference between gestural input and voice input, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot in terms of social networks, a cloud of data, etc. For instance, if you go to a computer and open a browser window to Google something, that’s the computer-as-friend method. If, on the other hand, you were able to put your hand down onto the Surface and be provided with the most recent news relevant to your life (in terms of your work life, your social network, your interests in world news, etc) that’s more like a computer-as-limb method. And wouldn’t that be cool?

Anyways, it’s been an interesting semester and I look forward to continuing my train of thought in HCI next fall, assuming my schedule doesn’t rearrange itself. I’m working up the website to showcase the Dynamic Rehearsal project, and it’ll be up here soon! So for now, TUI section of my blog, farewell.