interaction at architectural scale.
We think of this as an approach to
implement scaling in HCI.
To illustrate these ideas of small-scale interfaces that allow for playful,
large-scale interaction with the
atmosphere of a building, we will now
introduce our design project the Light
Dice. This prototype was inspired
by the ideas of speculative design [ 6];
we introduce it here as an example of
individual interaction at architectural
scale.
DESIGNING THE LIGHT
DICE—PLAYFUL HBI WITH AN
ALTERNATIVE LIGHT SWITCH
Traditional wall-mounted light
switches might be one of the most
common and lightweight ways for
individuals to interact with the built
environment. A light switch enables
an individual to change the lighting
conditions, and thus the atmosphere,
of a room with a single finger. As such,
it is a lightweight design of a simple
interface that allows for HBI.
So how can we reimagine this
ubiquitous button—the traditional
light switch—from the viewpoint
of interactive systems design and
scaling interaction? Here we present
one such design project, where we
have implemented an asymmetrical
interaction model to allow for playful
interaction (at an individual level) with
two interactive dice that serve as a light
switch for a room. By staying close to
this idea of unifying different scales,
the Light Dice show what the scaling
of interaction might offer as we move
from HCI to HBI.
In designing the Light Dice system,
we discussed ways of moving beyond
the traditional and functional on/off
light switch. We considered interaction
with a light switch as something we
environments, as well as more
recent work on so-called interactive
architecture [ 1].
Still, less is known about how to
scale the interaction model from the
individual to the building. One basic
reason might be that for traditional
interaction design, input and output
are typically implemented at the same
scale, usually that of the individual.
For example, the multitouch display
on a mobile phone is large enough to
work as an interface for input (say,
to fit a representation of a keyboard,
with keys large enough for the fingers
to click on), as well as large enough
for displaying information (text and
graphics can be displayed and read).
With one such implementation, the
interaction model is at the scale of
the individual, and the model is also
symmetrical in terms of the scale of the
input and output modalities. However,
for any HBI solution to work, the input
modality needs to be at individual
scale, whereas the output might need
to be at architectural scale. As such, an
HBI interaction model might need to
be asymmetrical to allow for individual
For any HBI solution to
work, the input modality
needs to be at individual
scale, whereas the
output might need to be
at architectural scale.
Final implementation of the Light Dice.