Brendan Alexander Harmon
ABSTRACT
Tangible user interfaces are based on the premise that embodied cognition in computing can enhance cognitive processes. However, the ways in which embodied cognition in computing transform spatial thinking have not yet been rigorously studied. I have co-designed Tangible Landscape -- a continuous shape display powered by a geographic information system -- and used it to explore how technology mediates spatial cognition in a rigorous experiment.
In this terrain modeling experiment I use geospatial analytics to analyze how visual computing with a GUI and tangible computing with a shape display mediate multidimensional spatial performance.
My initial findings suggest that: 1. digital sculpting via a GUI is unintuitive, 2. shape displays like Tangible Landscape can be intuitive, enhance spatial performance, and enable rapid iteration and ideation, and 3. different analytics encourage significantly different modes of spatial thinking and strategies for modeling.
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- Hiroshi Ishii and Brygg Ullmer. 1997. Tangible bits: towards seamless interfaces between people, bits and atoms. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '97. ACM Press, 234--241. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/258549.258715 Google ScholarDigital Library
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- David Kirsh. 2013. Embodied cognition and the magical future of interaction design. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 20, 1 (2013), 3:1--3:30. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2442106.2442109 Google ScholarDigital Library
- Anna Petrasova, Brendan Harmon, Vaclav Petras, and Helena Mitasova. 2015. Tangible Modeling with Open Source GIS. Springer. Google Scholar
- Majken K Rasmussen, Esben W Pedersen, Marianne G Petersen, and Kasper Hornbaek. 2012. Shape-Changing Interfaces: A Review of the Design Space and Open Research Questions. Proceedings of the 2012 ACM annual conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 12 (2012), 735--744. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2207781 Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Embodied Spatial Thinking in Tangible Computing
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