ORGANIC INTERACTION TECHNOLOGIES: FROM STONE TO SKIN

Interaction with computers can make use of our whole physical and even emotional selves, as demonstrated by such emerging systems as Holo Wall, SmartSkin, and PreSense.

BY JUN REKIMOTO

The mouse is the most successful and popular input device in the history of computing. However, it will never be the ultimate input device because it does not completely bring out its users’ sophisticated manipulation skills. A mouse gives us control of only a single position (x,y) at any given moment in time, along with additional button presses (on/off). Feedback related to the input is normally available only as visual information. On the other hand, in physical manipulation, we easily control multiple points and continuous parameters (such as pressure) at the same time. Feedback is not limited to sight but often includes touch, sound, temperature, and even air movement. Feedback itself is also more tightly unified with input than in traditional graphical user interfaces (GUIs), where input and output are often separate. The part(s) of our body we use for interaction is not limited to fingers; the palm, arm, even the entire body are all potentially usable. Several recent approaches have sought to incorporate these human manipulation skills into human-computer interaction. I use the terms “organic” and “organic interaction” for such interfaces, because they more closely resemble natural human-phys-ical and human-human interaction (such as shaking hands and gesturing).