Human-Computer Interaction

Special Issue on
Ubiquitous Multi-Display Environments

 Ravin Balakrishnan, University of Toronto
Patrick Baudisch, Microsoft Research

Recent advances in display technology – miniaturization of projectors, increasing resolution and size of flat panels, flexible and paper-like display substrates, innovative new input sensors, and rapidly decreasing cost – make it reasonable to envision a not-so-distant future in which pretty much any surface in our environment will function as a digital display. At first glance, designing user interfaces for such ubiquitous multi-display environments might appear to be a simple application of standard user centered design methodologies. After all, humans have long used various surfaces as a medium for human expression, both informative and aesthetic, in diverse scenarios. These include, to name but a few examples, pinning items on a corkboard, writing on a blackboard, leafing through a large book on a coffee table, displaying artwork on a living room wall, sticking notes on doors, and graffiti in public spaces. Could we not simply study these traditional uses and apply what we learn to the design of our digital multi-display environments of the future? Or better still, could we not base our new designs on existing user interfaces designed for various single-surface electronic displays? Perhaps, but many of these traditional uses tend to treat each surface as distinct, and by applying only these ideas to a seamlessly networked multi-display environment we may well run the risk of designing the horseless carriage of the 21st century.

Arguably, designing interfaces for these environments should not only consider the past, but also the vast array of new usage possibilities that these digitally interconnected display surfaces will enable. Despite the old adage, and as recent examples in the internet age illustrate, invention might well be the mother of necessity. While some of the new applications and interfaces will undoubtedly be driven by existing or perceived needs, and also grow out of existing work being conducted in related areas such as large displays and tabletop displays research, there will almost certainly be novel applications developed that will generate new needs. Regardless of their genesis, for these applications to succeed, numerous open research problems must be tackled. These include input technologies and interaction techniques, within and across displays; mechanisms for seamlessly transitioning data, input and interaction between displays; social and technological issues pertaining to collaboration, territoriality, and awareness; designs and scenarios for using display installations in an ambient manner; as well as mechanisms for solving the emerging security and authentication issues. As with any technology, upcoming innovations in these areas should be guided by the capabilities and potential needs of the human and could benefit from appropriate theories and methodologies that help understand, describe, and predict the role these multi-display environments will play as they indeed become ubiquitous. 

Submissions are invited that touch on one or more of the following themes:

• Theoretical foundations for multi-display environments
• Empirical work addressing some of the open questions in the design of multi-display environments. For example:
  • How do different display configurations, sizes, and orientations compare for various tasks?
  • What are the preferred input mechanisms?
  • How can multiple users be best supported?
  • How is human collaboration affected by multi-display environments?
  • How do different authentication mechanisms compare in these environments?
• Methodologies for the evaluation of multi-display environments.
• Investigation of work, communication, and entertainment needs of people that can be addressed through ubiquitous multi-display environments.
• Novel design concepts, applications, and implementations.
• Experiences from actual deployment of multi-display environments.

We would prefer contributions taking a broad and integrative view of relevant topics, rather than discussing a narrow and specific piece of research. Contributions are welcomed from different disciplinary perspectives, including computer science, design explorations, evaluation research, ethnography, social psychology, cognitive psychology, and enabling technologies.

Important Dates:

• March 2, 2007 – Deadline for paper proposals
• March 30, 2007 – Feedback to proposal authors
• June 15, 2007 – Deadline for full paper submission
• September 21, 2007 – Review results returned to authors
• December 14, 2007 – Deadline for revised papers
• February 29, 2008 – Second round review results returned to authors
• March 28, 2008 – Deadline for final submission

Proposals:

By March 2, 2007, please submit a 300-500 word proposal for your paper via email to the special issue editors:

Ravin Balakrishnan <ravin at dgp.toronto.edu>
Patrick Baudisch <baudisch at microsoft.com>

If you cannot meet this deadline for proposals, but would still like to submit a paper, please contact the special issue editors to discuss your plans.

Paper Submission:

By June 15, 2007, authors should submit an electronic submission (preferably in MS Word, RTF, or PDF format) by email attachment to the HCI Administrative Editor:

Patricia Sheehan <sheehan@parc.com>.

Information about submissions to HCI can be found at the journal's web site: hci-journal.com. Note that HCI has, for your convenience, an MS Word template that conforms to the journal's style guidelines (hci-journal.com/editorial/article-template.rtf).