Proxemic Interaction: Designing for a Proximity and Orientation-Aware Environment
Date
2010-07-02T20:48:14Z
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Abstract
In the everyday world, much of what we do is dictated by
how we interpret spatial relationships. This is called
proxemics. What is surprising is how little spatial
relationships are used in interaction design, i.e., in terms of
mediating people’s interactions with surrounding digital
devices such as digital surfaces, mobile phones, and
computers. Our interest is in proxemic interaction, which
imagines a world of devices that has fine-grained
knowledge of nearby people and other devices – how they
move into range, their precise distance, and even their
orientation – and how such knowledge can be exploited to
design interaction techniques. In particular, we show how
we used proxemic information to regulate implicit and
explicit interaction techniques. We also show how
proxemic interactions can be triggered by continuous
movement, or by movement in and out of discrete proxemic
regions. We illustrate these concepts with the design of an
interactive vertical display surface that recognizes the
proximity of surrounding people, digital devices, and nondigital
artefacts – all in relation to the surface but also the
surrounding environment. Our example application is an
interactive media player that implicitly reacts to the
approach and orientation of people and their personal
devices, and that tailors explicit interaction methods to fit.
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Keywords
Design, human Factors