Surface and Tangible Computing, and the “Small” Matter of People and Design

Bill BuxtonPrincipal ResearcherMicrosoft ResearchToronto, Ontario / Redmond Washington

The basic questions:

• Technology lead vs Application Lead?• Technology Driven vs User Driven?• Can innovation in scenarios drive

innovation in technology?

The only true voyage of discovery is not to go to new places, but to have other eyes.

Some engineering history….

Marcel Proust

Invented by schoolteacher Franklin Pierce Nitt in 1801

Introductionof theBlackboard

Historical Atlas of CanadaHistorical Atlas of CanadaVolume IIVolume IIPlate 55Plate 55

LCD

New Projection Technology

OLED’s: Images of Things to Come

• Very thin (~6 m.m.)• Very inexpensive

(~$10 ft2)• Very soon (~5-7

years)• Very big and very

small• Approach “interactive

paper”• Will today’s design

decisions scale to take advantage?

- reflective displays

- high contrast

- low power- persistent- slow refresh- monochrom

eElectrowetting- colour- video rate- 100 dpi

Reflective Displays

Other Eyes?

The Other Eye Revealed

Mehta, 1982Lee, Buxton & Smith, 1985

Multi-Touch Sensing, University of Toronto

Input Research Group, University of Toronto, 1992

Microsoft Surface, 2007

The Iconic

Beyond Graphical Thinking

Phycons: Physical Icons

Wacom Paint Phycons (Fukuzaki,1993)

From the passive to the active …

Thinsight: Hodges, Izadi, Butler, Rrustemi & Buxton, 2007

Who is to be the Emily Post for the Society of Appliances?

The Ultimate Question for Ubiquitous Computing:

The Long Nose of Innovation

Buxton, 2008

Moral of the Story …

A focus on users, and creative thinking around scenarios is the most efficient way to shorten the nose.

Questions?www.billbuxton.com