Physical widgets or phidgets are to physical user interfaces what widgets are to graphical user interfaces. Similar to widgets, phidgets abstract and package input and output devices: they hide implementation and construction details, they expose functionality through a well-defined API, and they have an (optional) on-screen interactive interface for displaying and controlling device state. Unlike widgets, phidgets also require: a connection manager to track how devices appear on-line; a way to link a software phidget with its physical counterpart; and a simulation mode to allow the programmer to develop, debug and test a physical interface even when no physical device is present. Our evaluation shows that everyday programmers using phidgets can rapidly develop physical interfaces.

Video-based media spaces are designed to support casual interaction between intimate collaborators. Yet transmitting video is fraught with privacy concerns. Some researchers suggest that the video stream be ‘filtered ’ to mask out potentially sensitive information. While a variety of filtering techniques exist, they have not been evaluated for how well they safeguard privacy. In this paper, we analyze how a blur and a pixelize video filter might impact both awareness and privacy in a media space. Each filter is considered at nine different levels of fidelity, ranging from heavily applied filter levels that mask almost all information, to lightly applied filters that reveal almost everything. We examined how well observers of several filtered video scenes extract particular awareness cues: the number of actors; their posture (moving, standing, seated); their gender; the visible objects (basic to detailed); and how available people look (their busyness, seriousness and approachability). We also examined the privacypreserving potential of each filter level in the context of common workplace activities. Our results suggest that the blur filter, and to a lesser extent the pixelize filter, have a level suitable for providing awareness information while safeguarding privacy.

Video media spaces are an excellent crucible for the study of privacy. Their design affords opportunities for misuse, prompts ethical questions, and engenders grave concerns from both users and nonusers. Despite considerable discussion of the privacy problems uncovered in prior work, questions remain as to how to design a privacy-preserving video media space and how to evaluate its effect on privacy. The problem is more deeply rooted than this, however. Privacy is an enormous concept from which a large vocabulary of terms emerges. Disambiguating the meanings of and relationships between these terms facilitates understanding of the link between privacy and design. In this article, we draw from resources in environmental psychology and computersupported cooperative work (CSCW) to build a broadly and deeply rooted vocabulary for privacy. We relate the vocabulary back to the real and hard problem of designing privacy-preserving video media spaces. In doing so, we facilitate analysis of the privacy-design relationship.

Tangible interfaces are best viewed as an interacting collection of remotely-located distributed hardware and software components. The problem is that current physical user interface toolkits do not normally offer distributed systems capabilities, leaving developers with extra burdens such as device discovery and management, low-level hardware access, and networking. Our solution is Shared Phidgets, a toolkit for rapidly prototyping distributed physical interfaces. It offers programmers 3 ways to access and control remotely-located hardware, and the ability to create abstract devices by transforming, aggregating and even simulating device capabilities. Network communication and low-level access to device hardware are handled transparently, regardless of device location. ACM Classification: H.5.2 [Information Interfaces]: User interfaces – input devices and strategies, interaction styles, prototyping, user-centered design Keywords: Distributed physical user interfaces, Phidgets.

Physical widgets, or phidgets, comprise devices and software that are almost direct analogs of graphical user interface widgets. Like widgets, phidgets abstract and package input and output devices: they hide implementation and construction details while exposing functionality through a well-defined API. They also have an (optional) on-screen interface. Phidgets also require: a connection manager to track how devices appear on-line; a way to link a software phidget with its physical counterpart; and a simulation mode to allow the programmer to develop, debug and test a system using phidgets even when no physical device is present.

Abstract. With the proliferation of inexpensive video surveillance and face recognition technologies, it is increasingly possible to track and match people as they move through public spaces. To protect the privacy of subjects visible in video sequences, prior research suggests using ad hoc obfuscation methods, such as blurring or pixelation of the face. However, there has been little investigation into how obfuscation influences the usability of images, such as for classification tasks. In this paper, we demonstrate that at high obfuscation levels, ad hoc methods fail to preserve utility for various tasks, whereas at low obfuscation levels, they fail to prevent recognition. To overcome the implied tradeoff between privacy and utility, we introduce a new algorithm, k-Same-Select, which is a formal privacy protection schema based on k-anonymity that provably protects privacy and preserves data utility. We empirically validate our findings through evaluations on the FERET database, a large real world dataset of facial images. 1

Figure 1. Three collaborators working around a shared tabletop (left: overhead schematic). In each physical space, remote participants are embodied as surrogates (with display, camera, microphone and speaker). Note that the spatial relationships are preserved in this setup. As B works in the space, her arm shadows are propagated to remote surfaces. We explore the design of a system for three-way collaboration over a shared visual workspace, specifically in how to support three channels of communication: person, reference, and task-space. In two studies, we explore the implications of extending designs intended for dyadic collaboration to three-person groups, and the role of each communication channel. Our studies illustrate the utility of multiple configurations of users around a distributed workspace, and explore the subtleties of traditional notions of identity, awareness, spatial metaphor, and corporeal embodiments as they relate to three-way collaboration. Author Keywords Shared workspace, tabletop, media space, video-mediated

In recent years, real world objects have been used to reflect information previously shown on the computer screen. While most earlier efforts have required significant developer knowledge and skills to construct and program the displays, our approach enables programmers to use real world objects in much the same way that they would typical user interface widgets. The programming interfaces leverage existing paradigms, simplifying the integration of off-the-desktop display and interaction techniques into standard programs. The APIs are developed using the X10 protocol for controlling power flow to electrical devices, thus avoiding engineering issues that make construction difficult and time-consuming for typical programmers. Sample programs are described that use the programming interfaces.

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Instant messaging systems, such as Skype, offer text, audio and video channels for one-on-one and group conversations, both for personal and professional communication. They are commonly used at a distance, i.e., across countries and continents. To avoid disrupting other tasks, they display personal states to signal others when to contact someone and when not. This mechanism, however, heavily relies on users setting their own state correctly. In an online survey with 46 participants we found that neglecting state updates leads to unwanted messages, either because the state is incorrect or others disrespect it because they assume it to be wrong anyway. We address this situation with the StaTube, a tangible object offering (1) peripheral interaction for setting one’s own state and (2) peripheral awareness of selected others ’ state. In an in-situ evaluation we found first indicators that (1) peripheral interaction fosters more frequent state updates and more accurate state information, and (2) that our participants felt more aware of their contacts ’ states due to the physical ambient representation.