TANGIBLE INTERFACES: inFORM

Elizabeth Chlipala

“As humans, we have evolved to interact physically with our environments, but in the 21st century, we're missing out on all of this tactile sensation that is meant to guide us, limit us, and make us feel more connected. In the transition to purely digital interfaces, something profound has been lost.“ - Sean Follmer, MIT Researcher behind inFORM (Brownlee)

INFORM SYSTEM DESIGN • • 900 9.535 mm 2 pins that can extend 100 mm from the surface • • Push-pull rods linking each pin to individual actuator • Linear positions read by 10-bit A/D converters Overhead depth camera (Kinect) to track users’ hands and surface objects Overhead projector providing visual feedback

FOCUS OF RESEARCH • Previous research on TUIs renders UI elements through static shape output • Emphasize dynamically changing user interface • Utilize shape displays in three ways: • To facilitate by providing dynamic affordances • To restrict by guiding users with dynamic constraints • To manipulate by actuating physical objects

DYNAMIC AFFORDANCES • The inFORM system works to facilitate dynamic physical affordances by creating physical elements that dynamically change, update, and react to the user based on interaction and context Binary Switch: Buttons 1D Touch Track 2D Touch Surface Handle

DYNAMIC AFFORDANCES • Can change shape to reflect a changing program state • Enable smooth transitions between input dimensions • Pressing a “button” can cause the surface to transform into something else • Bring up relevant or complementary UI controls for objects or certain interactions • “Sequential affordances” – affordances change based on interaction to enable new possibilities or restrict actions

DYNAMIC CONSTRAINTS • limit the possibilities, making some interactions difficult or impossible to perform, in order to guide the user to perform certain interactions Wells (container for holding objects and sensing presence) Slot (restricting movement to 1D) Ramp Curved Surface

MANIPULATING PASSIVE OBJECTS • Passive objects can be augmented with dynamic capabilities expanding their possible use as tangible tools or representations • • • • Vertically Lifted Tilted Pushed – by gravity or by placing force offset of the object’s center of gravity Launched at precise angle and smoothly caught to dampen impact and avoid bounces (7 g 20 mm diameter ball about 80 mm above the maximum pin height) • Vibrations to draw attention to object or for haptic feedback

VIDEO • http://vimeo.com/79179138 • Examples from presentation start at 1:20

TO VIEW MORE… • http://tangible.media.mit.edu/projects/

REFERENCES • Sean Follmer, Daniel Leithinger, Alex Olwal, Akimitsu Hogge, and Hiroshi Ishii. 2013. “inFORM: Dynamic Physical Affordances and Constraints through Shape and Object Actuation.” To appear in Proceedings of the 26th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology (UIST ‘13). ACM, New York, NY, USA.

• Brownlee, John. "MIT Invents A Shapeshifting Display You Can Reach Through And Touch." Co.Design. Fast Company, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. .

• Direct Link to Paper: http://tmg trackr.media.mit.edu:8020/SuperContainer/RawData/Papers/527 inFORM%20Dynamic%20Physical%20Affordances/Published/PDF • Link to MIT’s inFORM webpage: http://tangible.media.mit.edu/project/inform/