STATEMENT

The tendency in the creation of digital technologies has been to focus on the design of tools which allow digital information to augment the physical: physical first, digital as an added layer. This direction of thinking is evident in early examples such as the garage door opener, which creates convenience through the automation of a previously existing physical object. However, the same trend also continues within more recent explorations of ways to integrate digital tools into the experience of our physical world.

Augmented reality is one example which is a growing area within human-computer interaction and a distinct example of digital augmentation, as the objects augmented are often separate from the augmenting tool. Using screens or glasses, digital information can be overlaid on any object being viewed within the physical world to augment them with additional digital information.

As another example, The Tangible Media Group at MIT has also researched means of augmentation which are more connected to the manipulation of physical. In the Relief project[3], the digitally projected image of a mountain gives added visual information to understand the topographical forms which can be displayed and manipulated on its form-changing surface.

Both of these current examples overlay a digital image over the physical, enabling access to additional information that cannot be obtained directly from the objects themselves. The inclination to explore the digital as an added layer of augmentation follows the development of all new technologies, which are always created in relation to what exists, with overlay being one of the easiest ways to bring digital affordances into the world. However, as we are now increasingly familiar with the digital, it is also important to reverse the question and ask how physical means might also augment a body of digital information in space.

This paper introduces an interface which selectively materializes digital information within space to allow one to tangibly work with a specific portion of a larger body of digital information. The name (re)place refers both to the replacing of abstract digital information by physical tangibility, as well as the adjustable placement of a physical slice within space as a way of deciding what area to materialize.

Replace_(CHI-Formatted Paper)

(re)place Video

Contributors:

Sophia Chang -  Ideation, Presentation, Content Generation, Physical Prototyping

Jifei Ou - Ideation, Presentation, Physical Prototyping

Sheng Kai Tang - Ideation, Presentation, Software Prototyping, Physical Prototyping

STATEMENT

In a current scenario of video communication, the shared working space between the participants are physically detached. This discontinuity leads to many inconvenience and problematics, one of them is how to point or indicate physical objects between the remote participants. We were inspired by the phenomena that light can penetrate from one side of a glass and illuminate objects from the other side. In this case, penetrating light becomes a medium that facilitates a better communication.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

For this assignment, we sought to re-create such experience in a remote communication scenario and demonstrate a vision of “light can travel through virtual world and reach out to the physical one”. In our system, user in video communication takes a flash light and points to any position on the screen. this 2-D coordination will be captured and transmitted to the remote side. A projector simulates a light beam on the same coordination. By doing so, participants are able to intuitively pointing and annotating contents in physical world.

APPLICATION

The metaphor of penetrating light can be also applied to other scenarios. We envisioned two potential applications.

1. Urp++

as a remote version of a previous project from Tangible Media Group, Urp, Urp++ allows user to use a phicon as light source to synchronize the environment light within the two workbenches. When the light source changes its position, the simulated shadow from both sides will response the the correct position. User can also pass the light source to each other remotely. (see the sketch below)

2. X-ray

In this application, the simulated light beam can not only point on the remote physical object, but also reveal some hidden information inside or behind this object. The simulated light becomes an X-ray.

PRESENTATION SLIDES

synchroLight Video

Contributors:

Jifei Ou - Ideation, Presentation, Physical Prototyping

Sheng Kai Tang - Ideation, Presentation, Software Prototyping

Video Sketch

insTag on Vimeo

Background

Taking pictures in a meeting or branstorming session is a common activity that I want to explore for this assignment. It is very interesting that those visual impressions that brought by photos could help us associating the notes that we’ve written down with the environment that we were in. And those pictures can serve not exclusively for a post-meeting organizing, but also as a tool for real-time discussion and modification during the meeting.

System Description

The insTag is a system that aims to help one intuitively capturing ideas and rapidly evolving them with others in a meeting situation. It has a hacked camera, that connects to the cloud. The camera contains also a printer, which will print only text of location and time of the shooting moment. Besides the camera, the system has a webcam, a projector and a whiteboard.

In a meeting scenario, one can use this camera to make digital pictures of any thing he or she finds interesting. A print with authentic time and location will be generated by the camera at the same time. The digital pictures are automatically linked with the prints, which allows one freely writing notes on. When the prints are pasted on the white board, the webcam recognizes each of them because of the uniqueness of time. The linked digital pictures will be then projected on the board for discussion. One can also make a layered modification of the picture’s content on the board. By wiping the print, the webcam will take a picture of the modification and link it with the respective print. The next time when the print is pasted again on the board, a history of the modification will be projected along as well.

In the end, we will have physical tags of the inspiring moments and discussions from a meeting. As physical objects, those tags are easy to organize and retrieve. And most important, the process of making and retrieving them is intuitive.