Daily Note: Kinetic Organic Interfaces

These notes are a summary of concepts presented in “Designing kinetic interactions for organic user interfaces.”

Amanda Parkes, Ivan Poupyrev, and Hiroshi Ishii. 2008. Designing kinetic interactions for organic user interfaces. Commun. ACM 51, 6 (June 2008), 58–65. https://doi.org/10.1145/1349026.1349039

  1. Kinetic Organic Interfaces
    • Use kinetic motion to embody and communicate information
    • Merge computer interfaces with the real world for a more intimate, organic experience
    • Stimulate visual, aural, tactile, and kinesthetic sensations
    • Evoke deeper emotional responses from users
  2. Core Concepts in Kinetic Organic Interfaces
    • Tangible & Ambient User Interfaces
      • Kinetic design adds bi-directional relationships
      • Expands interaction vocabulary through motion
    • Motion and perception
      • Physical components are actuated to respond to users
      • Motion is perceived visually, haptically, or aurally
      • Design factors – speed, direction, range, and applied forces
      • Physical properties (surface texture, shape) enhance interaction
  3. Actuation in Kinetic Interfaces
    • Dynamic physical controls
      • Maintain consistency between digital data and physical control states
      • Balance simplicity with complex functionality
    • Motion as information embodiment
      • Movement represents data changes
      • Kinetic surfaces or structures adapt to function and environment
      • Form becomes function
    • Haptic user interfaces
      • Enable users to feel digital information
      • Used in virtual reality, telepresence, desktop, and mobile interfaces
  4. Actuation as Embodiment of Gesture
    • Record and replay human gestures to create a sense of organic motion
    • Users teach objects movement by direct manipulation
    • Challenge of maintaining functional simplicity in multi-purpose forms
  5. Actuation as Form Generation
    • Devices and displays dynamically change form to display data
    • Shape displays allow real-time manipulation of 3D physical shapes
    • Information is conveyed by modifying or rearranging physical forms
  6. Materiality and Motion Perception
    • Motion must be embodied in a material form for recognition
    • Material properties affect motion perception and control
  7. Kinetic Memory and Temporality
    • Objects can replay, fast-forward, or rewind motion sequences
    • Shape memory allows objects to share motion history
  8. Control Parameters in Kinetic Interfaces
    • Repeatability and exactness
      • Simple, identifiable control states
    • Granularity and emergence
      • Leveraging digital structures, materials, and actuators