UIST'09: Ripples: Per-Contact Visualizations for Touch Displays

Presented at UIST (ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology) http://www.acm.org/uist/

PAPER ABSTRACT:
We present Ripples, a system which enables visualizations around each contact point on a touch display and, through these visualizations, provides feedback to the user about successes and errors of their touch interactions. Our visualization system is engineered to be overlaid on top of existing applications without requiring the applications to be modified in any way, and functions independently of the applications responses to user input. Ripples reduces the fundamental problem of ambiguity of feedback when an action results in an unexpected behaviour. This ambiguity can be caused by a wide variety of sources. We describe the ambiguity problem, and identify those sources. We then define a set of visual states and transitions needed to resolve this ambiguity, of use to anyone designing touch applications or systems. We then present the Ripples implementation of visualizations for those states, and the results of a user study demonstrating user preference for the system, and demonstrating its utility in reducing errors.

AUTHORS:
Daniel Wigdor, Sarah Williams, Michael Cronin, Robert Levy, Katie White, Maxim Mazeev, Hrvoje Benko
Microsoft Surface, Microsoft Research, Microsoft Corporation

LINK TO PUBLICATION:
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1622176.1622180

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• UIST
• user
• interface
• software
• technology
• research
• Touch
• multitouch
• fat
• fingers
• precision
• input
• tabletop
• no
• touch
• left
• behind
• feedback
• ambiguity

[omniambience]

Actually, when not hitting something, the trace should not be bigger when actually hitting something

[omniambience]

I like surface computing but not surface lag - note the lag when moving things around and the trace graphics is lagging behind the fingers actual position, this is not good - feedback needs to be real-time and accurate

[taby999]

Hi, is there any chance we can download and test your ripples on a Windows 7 installation with multitouch devices? This is something I'd love to touch!

[AdvG3n3t1cs]

Couldn't you add a coaster program to ripple that say allows someone to draw a circle with there finger and then they can place objects in that area of the table without it effecting there other programs? they could still manipulate it with there fingers if they wanted to change its size or throw it off screen to delete it. Also for things like the arm activating objects, you could make it so that only objects of within two centimeters can active them so most accidental brushes wont effect it.