By using analog sensors in input devices, continuous and subtle changes in physical interaction can be measured.

Used in this sense, the term “organic” refers to subjective experience. It is therefore difficult to define or quantify, but we can observe some qualities that make interfaces feel organic. Here, I focus on techniques that achieve this effect by introducing physical properties to the user interface.

User interfaces can incorporate elements of physics in a number of ways: one approach is to imbue real physical objects with digital properties, as in the work of the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab. Another approach is to simulate physical environments on screen: some car racing games, for example, derive much of their appeal from convincing physics modeling. But physics— real or simulated—can also be very limiting: computers are so useful as a media platform precisely because digital media are not bound by the laws of physics (hypertext links break when printed on paper; YouTube is incompatible with the real or simulated physics of film projectors).

Organic interface design represents a less literal approach which, rather than focusing on physical objects or metaphors, emphasizes the analog, continuous, and transitional nature of physical reality and human experience. By combining sensitive analog input devices with responsive graphics, we can create user experiences that acknowledge the sub-tleties of physical interaction.

Aubiquitous example of analog input coupled with responsive graphics is the computer mouse: continuous mapping of physical hand movement to virtual pointer position results in the experience of direct manipulation that is central to the WIMP interface. The introduction of the mouse, in combination with a responsive screen interface, transported digital information from the abstract, cerebral world of the command line right into our tangible, physical environment.

The use of analog sensors was explored in the development of the Gummi interface concept [ 1]. Gummi was inspired by a new generation of organic, flexible electronics. The underlying reasoning was that, at some point in the future, it would be possible to build credit-card sized, flexible computers composed of layers of organic electronic components: flexible batteries, circuits, sensors, and a flexible organic light-emitting diode (FOLED)