July 4, 2007 fireworks show at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ, with the downtown Manhattan skyline in the background

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We describe content-aware layout (CAL), a technique that automatically arranges windows on a user's desktop. Unlike conventional window managers that automatically cascade or tile each window without regard to its content, CAL uses information about the contents of windows to help decide if and where they should be placed. We present the approach to designing CAL, as well as its implementation. We then conclude with a discussion about future work and CAL's potential use in large display environments. (Authors: Edward Ishak, Steven Feiner, Columbia University. Please visit http://www.edwardishak.com for more information.)

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Scrolling is used to navigate large information spaces on small screens, but is often too restrictive or cumbersome to use for particular types of content, such as multi-page, multi-column documents. To address this problem, we introduce content-aware scrolling (CAS), an approach that
takes into account various characteristics of document content to determine scrolling direction, speed, and zoom. We also present the CAS widget, which supports scrolling through a content-aware path using traditional scrolling methods, demonstrating the advantages of making a traditional technique content-aware. (Authors: Edward Ishak, Steven Feiner, Columbia University. Please visit http://www.edwardishak.com for more information.)

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We present VITA (Visual Interaction Tool for Archaeology), an experimental collaborative mixed reality system for offsite visualization of an archaeological dig. Our system allows multiple users to visualize the dig site in a mixed reality environment in which tracked, see-through, head-worn displays are combined with a multi-user, multi-touch, projected table surface, a large screen display, and tracked hand-held displays. We focus on augmenting existing archaeological analysis methods with new ways to organize, visualize, and combine the standard 2D information available from an excavation (drawings, pictures, and notes) with textured, laser rangescanned 3D models of objects and the site itself. Users can combine speech, touch, and 3D hand gestures to interact multimodally with the environment. Preliminary user tests were conducted with archaeology researchers and students, and their feedback is presented here. (Authors: Hrvoje Benko, Edward Ishak, Steven Feiner, Columbia University. Please visit http://www.edwardishak.com for more information.)

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Archaeology is a destructive process in which accurate and detailed recording of a site is imperative. As a site is exposed, documentation is required in order to recreate and understand the site in context. We have developed a 3D modeling pipeline that can assist archaeologists in the documentation effort by building rich, geometrically and photometrically accurate 3D models of the site. The modeling effort begins with data acquisition (images, range scans, GIS data, and video) and ends with the use of a sophisticated visualization tool that can be used by researchers to explore and understand the site. The pipeline includes new methods for shadow-based registration of 2D images and temporal change detection. Our multimodal augmented reality system allows users wearing head-tracked, see-through, head-worn displays to visualize the site model and associated archaeological artifacts, and to interact with them using speech and gesture. (Authors: Peter Allen, Steven Feiner, Alejandro Troccoli, Hrvoje Benko, Edward Ishak, Ben Smith, Columbia University. Please visit http://www.edwardishak.com for more information.)

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We present a set of cross-dimensional interaction techniques for a hybrid user interface that integrates existing 2D and 3D visualization and interaction devices. Our approach is built around one- and two-handed gestures that support the seamless transition of data between co-located 2D and 3D contexts. Our testbed environment combines a 2D multi-user, multi-touch, projection surface with 3D head-tracked, see-through, head-worn displays and 3D tracked gloves to form a multi-display augmented reality. We address some of the ways in which we can interact with private data in a collaborative, heterogeneous workspace. We also report on a pilot usability study to evaluate the effectiveness and ease of use of the cross-dimensional interactions. (Authors: Hrvoje Benko, Edward Ishak, Steven Feiner, Columbia University. Please visit http://www.edwardishak.com for more information.)

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We present content-aware free-space transparency, an approach to viewing and manipulating the otherwise hidden content of obscured windows through unimportant regions of overlapping windows. Traditional approaches to interacting with otherwise obscured content in a window system render an entire window uniformly transparent. In contrast, content-aware free-space transparency uses opaque-to-transparent gradients and image-processing filters to minimize the interference from overlapping material, based on properties of that material. By increasing the amount of simultaneously visible content and allowing basic interaction with otherwise obscured content, without modifying window geometry, we believe that free-space transparency has the potential to improve user productivity. (Authors: Edward Ishak, Steven Feiner, Columbia University. Please visit http://www.edwardishak.com for more information.)

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