Proxemic-Aware Controls: Designing Remote Controls for Ubiquitous Computing Ecologies

David Ledo , Saul Greenberg , Nicolai Marquardt , Sebastian Boring

mobilehci-2015-ledo.pdf

Abstract

Remote controls facilitate interactions at-a-distance with appliances. However, the complexity, diversity, and increasing number of digital appliances in ubiquitous computing ecologies make it increasingly difficult to: (1) discover which appliances are controllable; (2) select a particular appliance from the large number available; (3) view information about its status; and (4) control the appliance in a pertinent manner. To mitigate these problems we contribute proxemic-aware controls, which exploit the spatial relationships between a person's handheld device and all surrounding appliances to create a dynamic appliance control interface. Specifically, a person can discover and select an appliance by the way one orients a mobile device around the room, and then progressively view the appliance's status and control its features in increasing detail by simply moving towards it. We illustrate proxemic-aware controls of assorted appliances through various scenarios. We then provide a generalized conceptual framework that informs future designs of proxemic-aware controls.

Keywords:  Ubiquitous ComputingProxemic InteractionMobile InteractionControl Of Appliances

Reference

David Ledo, Saul Greenberg, Nicolai Marquardt, Sebastian BoringProxemic-Aware Controls: Designing Remote Controls for Ubiquitous Computing EcologiesIn Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI '15)ACM, New York, NY, USA  Page: 1-10.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2785830.2785871