Even ceilings may someday function as an information display.

 

munication (such as a handshake). Tangible UIs are more logical, or manipulation-oriented, whereas organic UIs are more emotional, or communication-oriented, though more real-world experience is needed for a rigorous comparison.

Other modalities for interaction. In organic UIs, hands are still the primary body parts for interaction. But we should be able to use other parts, as we do in our natural communications. Eye gaze is one possibility. Another is blowing, which is useful for manipulation because it is controllable while also conveying emotion during interaction; a technique developed in [ 6] determines the direction of a blow based on an acoustic analysis. The BYU-BYU-View system adds the sensation of air movement to the interaction between a user and a virtual environment to add reality for telecommunications by delivering information directly to the skin [ 9].

 

INTERACTION BETWEEN REAL WORLD AND COMPUTER In the context of traditional human-computer interaction, the term “interaction” generally means information exchange between a human and a computer. In the near future, interaction will also involve more physical experience (such as illumination, air, temperature, humidity, and energy). The interaction concept is thus no longer limited to interaction between humans and computers but can be expanded to cover interaction between the physical world and computers. For example, future interactive wall systems will react to human gesture, be aware of the air in the room, and be able to stabilize conditions (such as temperature and humidity) in the same way a cell membrane maintains the stability of a cell environment. Interactive walls may also be able to control sound energy to dynamically create silent spaces. Even ceilings may someday function as an information display. In this way, future interactive systems may more seamlessly interact with and control our physical environments. c

44 June 2008/Vol. 51, No. 6 COMMUNICA TIONS OF THE ACM

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JUN REKIMOTO ( [e-mail]) is a professor in the Interfac-ulty Initiative in Information Studies at The University of Tokyo and a director of the Interaction Laboratory at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. in Tokyo.

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