TUIs in the Large: Using Paper Tangibles with Mobile Devices
Katrin Wolf, Stefan Schneegass, Niels Henze, Dominik Weber, Valentin Schwind, Pascal Knierim, Sven Mayer, Tilman Dingler, Yomna Abdelrahman, Thomas Kubitza, Markus Funk, Anja Mebus, and Albrecht Schmidt
Adjunct Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (to be published) · 2015
Abstract
Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) have been proposed to interact with digital information through physical objects. However being investigated since decades, TUIs still play a marginal role compared to other UI paradigms. This is at least partially because TUIs often involve complex hardware elements, which make prototyping and production in quantities difficult and expensive. In this paper we present our work towards paper TUIs (pTUIs) -- easily makeable interactive TUIs using laser-cut paper, brass fasteners, metal bands, mirror foils, and touch screen devices as platform. Through three examples we highlight the flexibility of the approach. We rebuilt the seminal work URP to show that pTUIs can replicate existing TUIs in DIY manufacturing. We implemented tangible Pong being controlled by paper rackets to show that pTUIs can be used in highly interactive systems. Finally, we manufactured an interactive Christmas card and distributed it to 300 recipients by mail to show that pTUIs can be used as apparatus to explore how pTUIs are used outside the lab in real life.