Abstract not found

The personal universal controller (PUC) is an approach for improving the interfaces to complex appliances by introducing an intermediary graphical or speech interface. A PUC engages in two-way communication with everyday appliances, first downloading a specification of the appliance's functions, and then automatically creating an interface for controlling that appliance. The specification of each appliance includes a high-level description of every function, a hierarchical grouping of those functions, and dependency information, which relates the availability of each function to the appliance's state. Dependency information makes it easier for designers to create specifications and helps the automatic interface generators produce a higher quality result. We describe the architecture that supports the PUC, and the interface generators that use our specification language to build high-quality graphical and speech interfaces.

People often use a variety of computing devices, such as PCs, PDAs, and cell phones, to access the same information. The user interface to this information needs to be different for each device, due to the different input and output constraints of each device. Currently designers designing such multi-device user interfaces either have to design a UI separately for each device, which is time consuming, or use a program to automatically generate interfaces, which often result in interfaces that are awkward. Each method also discourages iterative design, considered critical for creating good user interfaces. We are creating a system called Damask to support the early-stage design of user interfaces targeted at multiple devices. With Damask, the designer will design a user interface for one device, by sketching the design and by specifying which design patterns the interface uses. The patterns will help Damask generate user interfaces optimized for the other devices targeted by the designer. The generated interfaces will be of sufficient quality so that it will be more convenient to use Damask than to design each of the other interfaces separately, and the ease with which designers will be able to create designs will encourage them to engage in iterative design. Damask will also

Several industrial and academic research groups are working to simplify the control of appliances and services by creating a truly universal remote control. Unlike the preprogrammed remote controls available today, these new controllers download a specification from the appliance or service and use it to automatically generate a remote control interface. This promises to be a useful approach because the specification can be made detailed enough to generate both speech and graphical interfaces. Unfortunately, generating good user interfaces can be difficult. Based on user studies and prototype implementations, this paper presents a set of requirements that we have found are needed for automatic interface generation systems to create high-quality user interfaces.

Abstract. Mobile phones are increasingly becoming ubiquitous computational devices that are almost always available, individually adaptable, and nearly universally connectable (using both wide area and short range communication capabilities). Until Star Trek-like speech interfaces are fully developed, mobile phones seem thus poised to become our main devices for interacting with intelligent spaces and smart appliances, such as buying train passes, operating vending machines, or controlling smart homes (e.g., TVs, stereos, and dishwashers, as well as heating and light). But how much can a mobile phone simplify our everyday interactions, before it itself becomes a usability burden? What are the capabilities and limitations of using mobile phones to control smart appliances, i.e., operating things like ATMs or coffee makers that typically do not benefit from remote control? This paper presents a user study investigating the use of a prototypical, mobile phone based interaction system to operate a range of appliances in a number of different task settings. Our results show that mobile devices can greatly simplify appliance operation in exceptional situations, but that the idea of a universal interaction device is less suited for general, everyday appliance control. 1

This paper describes an XML-based language for describing the functions of appliances, such as televisions, VCRs, copiers, microwave ovens, and even manufacturing equipment. Our description language is designed to be concise, easy to use, and contain no presentation information. It has been used to describe more than twenty diverse appliances. The functional descriptions written in our language are used to automatically generate remote control interfaces for appliances. We have used these descriptions to generate both graphical and speech interfaces on handheld computers, mobile phones, and desktop computers. Keywords User interface description language (UIDL), automatic interface generation, remote control, appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, Pebbles, personal universal controller (PUC)

We envision a future where each person will carry with them a personal universal controller (PUC), a portable computerized device that allows the user to control any appliance within their environment. The PUC has a two-way communication channel with each appliance. It downloads a specification of the appliance's features and then automatically generates an interface for controlling that appliance (graphical, speech, or both). In this demonstration we present a working PUC system that automatically generates graphical and speech interfaces, and controls real appliances, including a shelf stereo and a Sony camcorder.

As various home robots come into homes, the need for efficient robot task management tools is arising. Current tools are designed for controlling individual robots independently, so they are not ideally suitable for assigning coordinated action among multiple robots. To address this problem, we developed a management tool for home robots with a graphical editing interface. The user assigns instructions by selecting a tool from a toolbox and sketching on a bird’s-eye view of the environment. Layering supports the management of multiple tasks in the same room. Layered graphical representation gives a quick overview of and access to rich information tied to the physical environment. This paper describes the prototype system and reports on our evaluation of the system.

This paper describes how IP-phone communication and real- world user interface can become a new standard for mobile terminals. Current wireless broadband networks such as the 802.11a/b will even- tually lead to IP mobile phones. As "smart" appliances emerge on the market, mobile terminals can play a new role in the ubiquitous computing environment. This paper integrates IP-phone communication capability and intuitive user interface into a mobile terminal. It explains the use of the "pick-and-drop" technique as a controlling interface for voice sessions and music streams, enabling both usability and security, important in a practical ubiquitous computing environment. Finally, a prototype implementation will be briefly described.

Over six years, we iterated on the design of a language for describing the functionality of appliances, such as televisions, telephones, VCRs, and copiers. This language has been used to describe more than thirty diverse appliances, and these descriptions have been used to automatically generate both graphical and speech user interfaces on handheld computers, mobile phones, and desktop computers. In this article, we describe the final design of our language and analyze the key design choices that led to this design. Through this analysis, we hope to provide a useful guide for the designers of future user interface description languages.