As computers become more ubiquitous, direct interaction with
wall-size, high resolution displays will become commonplace.
The familiar desktop computer interface is ill-suited to the
affordances of these screens such as size, positioning, pen or
finger as the primary input device. Current Graphical User Interfaces
(GUIs) do not take into account the cost of reaching for a far-away
menu bar and they rely heavily on the keyboard for rapid interactions.
GUIs are extremely powerful, but their interaction style contrasts
sharply with the casual interaction style provided by traditional
wall-size displays such as whiteboards and pin-boards.
This research explores how to bridge the gap between the power
provided by current desktop computer interfaces and the fluid
use of whiteboards and pin-boards. Observing fluid expert interactions
in our everyday life, such as driving a car or playing a violin,
we have designed, and built a fluid interaction framework which
encourages gesture memory, reduces the need for dialog with the
user, and provides a scoping mechanism for modes. Together, these
features progressively make the cognitive load of using the interface
disappear. The user is now free to focus on other tasks the same
way one can drive a car while conversing with a passenger.
To validate our design, we built the Stanford Interactive
Mural, a 9 Mpixel whiteboard-size screen, evaluated the performance
of our proposed menu system FlowMenu (preliminary results will
be discussed), and implemented two applications using our framework.
The Geometer's Workbench allows a teacher and a student to explore
differential geometry; PostBrainstorm is a brainstorm tool that
lets users gather and organize sketches, snapshots of physical
documents and a variety of digital documents on the Interactive
Mural. PostBrainstorm is currently being tested in brainstorming
sessions by professional designers. It demonstrates the feasibility
of fluid, transparent interactions for complex, real life applications.