Use Of Tangible User Interfaces Research Articles

The Use of Tangible User Interfaces in K12 Education Settings: A Systematic Mapping Study

Tangible User Interfaces have enriched and expanded the user experience when interacting with computers and smart devices. The monopoly of graphical user interfaces has been broken thanks to the emergence of new complementary technologies that allow for new ways of interacting with computer systems, such as tangible interaction, among others. Due to the scope and number of research articles addressing the Tangible User Interface that have been published, it can now be considered an interaction mechanism that is relatively mature and integrated within society. However, while the application of tangible interfaces in different areas is described as a success, there are only a limited number of research articles about their impact on education and learning systems. As a result, it is difficult to show the actual impact of Tangible User Interface technology in K12 education settings. This study tries to fill this gap by performing a systematic mapping study that shows the current state of research on the impact of this technology in these settings, analyzing the findings and identifying the main advances and limitations of this novel technology.

The Use of Tangible User Interface in Interactive System to Learn about Countries

Tangible User Interface (TUI) is an interface that allows user to interact with digital information through physical environment. We have developed an interactive system serves the educational field within the geographical domain. The system allows children to discover and learn about countries from different continents using tangible objects. In our project we selected so far six countries that represent six continents in the world. The selected countries are: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United States of America, France, Brazil, and Australia. With the system, children are required to manipulate tangible objects. Their task is to select a landmark from a country and placing it on the table top. The system will recognize the object and provides users with feedback. The system involves the recognition of six elements for each country: (capital, flag, climate, currency, population and industries). This application has been evaluated in a field study with children 9–11 years of age. The initial results are promising and show that such an interactive system can support interaction and collaboration among young children, as well as enriches the learning process and makes it more enjoyable.

タンジブルユーザインタフェースを用いた情報提示可能な作業机の開発

By changes in the customer values, the style of manufacturing is changing from the mass production to the small lot production of diversified products. In such a situation, the cellular manufacturing systems are receiving a lot of attention. However, the cellular manufacturing systems require operators with wide skills, and the productivity depends largely on their abilities. To improve the productivity of the cellular manufacturing systems, many researchers apply information technology to them. In this paper, we develop a workbench by use of tangible user interface. This workbench supports beginners of operation in the cellular manufacturing systems.

Tangible User Interface Design for Climate Change Education in Interactive Installation Art

The authors discuss how tangible user interface objects can be important educational and entertainment tools in environmental education. The authors describe their interactive installation artwork Reefs on the Edge, which incorporates tangible user interface objects and combines environmental science and multiple art forms to explore coral reef ecosystems that are threatened by the effects of climate change. The authors/artists argue that the use of tangible user interface in an installation-art setting can help engage and inform the public about crucial environmental issues.

The impact of tangible user interfaces on spatial cognition during collaborative design

The use of tangible user interfaces in new design environments promises to facilitate the designers' interaction with the design model. In order to clarify the impact of tangible user interfaces we compare the design protocols of collaborative design sessions using a tabletop system and tangible user interface (TUI) with a typical keyboard/mouse/display graphical user interface (GUI) to identify changes in designers' spatial cognition. We focussed on design collaboration because many tabletop systems are intended to support designers in communicating and developing a shared model of the design. The results reveal that the use of TUIs changed designers' spatial cognition, and that these changes affected the design process by increasing their ‘problem-finding’ behaviours leading to creative design.