Adaptive Pointing – Implicit Gain Adaptation for Absolute Pointing Devices

If you've tried using a laser pointer, you know it's very hard to hold it still. Some guys at the University of Konstanz have found a way to make it easier to point with a device like the Wii-mote.

They assume that most clicks are a combination of a fast move to get close to the target, and then a slow move to accurately position the cursor. During the fast move they use absolute position, but they switch to relative position as soon as the cursor slows down. I think this sounds like a great idea. My only fear is that it will feel a bit sticky. But then, I think I would prefer a slight stickyness to the jittery feeling you get with absolute pointing.

Here's the original paper.

Pressure Sensitive Keyboard

Looks like pressure sensitive physical keyboards are ready for mass production.

I like it how different technologies cross fertilize. The pressure sensitive sloppy type algorithms were made for touch screens, and now they can migrate back to physical keyboards, if you just make the characters pressure sensitive.

TAT Augmented ID

Augmented ID is a TAT concept that visualizes the digital identities of people you meet in real life. With a mobile device and face recognition software from Polar Rose, Augmented ID enables you to discover selected information about people around you. All users control their own augmented appearance, by selecting the content and social network links they want show to others. Modifying your augmented ID is easier than fixing your hair in real life and, of course, TAT Cascades will make sure you look great!

An evaluation of Techniques for Selecting Moving Targets

Anyone who's tried to photograph a toddler knows that targeting moving objects is hard. Tyler Gunn, et. al. makes selection easier by enlarging the targets in the direction they travel. I think their Comet Tails design for generic targets is promising.

I'm interested in converting this design into one that would make photography easier, because this is a mass market problem. Below I made a sketch of what it might look like in the camera viewer while taking a photo. Maybe you could make a blurred trail of moving foreground objects. If you barely missed the subject and pressed the button while targeting the trail, your focus would still be on the subject. Or are trailing images of people just creepy?

"Hiya-Atsu" media: Augmenting digital media with temperature

In this video from NTT in Japan, they have a heat-display on a mouse. A surface changes from hot to cold depending on the voltage applied, and the sign on the voltage.

Imagine putting this on a phone.

Applications:
More immersive movies. Heat at explosions, etc.
Feel a spot on the device in your pocket. If it gets cold when you press it, the sound is off.
Send vacation messages and convey how hot/cold it is.
Weather widgets can be more intuitive if they display heat/cold.

Wikipedia describes the Peltier effect.

Topology-Aware Navigation in Large Networks

I think this is a promising idea for displaying geographic connections. In the video, the example is international flights. But you could visualize subway stations or data traffic the same way.

Morphing Gesture Feedback

This idea, by Shumin Zhai, and Caroline Appert, solves two important feedback problems with gestures. When you've made a gesture, you can see what gesture the computer thinks you did, and how it's ideally drawn.

In the example, a delete gesture is drawn.

Great idea.

Their paper contains a lot more on gestures.