From jpierce@cs.cmu.edu Fri May 8 11:53:18 1998 Received: from burdell.cc.gatech.edu (root@burdell.cc.gatech.edu [130.207.3.207]) by lennon.cc.gatech.edu (8.8.4/8.6.9) with ESMTP id LAA05838 for ; Fri, 8 May 1998 11:53:16 -0400 (EDT) Received: from wheaten.hitl.washington.edu (nWSvM9ZPGLXFEsD2Me6AEX7vbvNCxhfh@[128.95.73.60]) by burdell.cc.gatech.edu (8.8.4/8.6.9) with ESMTP id LAA23047 for ; Fri, 8 May 1998 11:53:13 -0400 (EDT) Received: from ux2.sp.cs.cmu.edu (UX2.SP.CS.CMU.EDU [128.2.198.102]) by wheaten.hitl.washington.edu (8.8.8/8.6.12) with SMTP id IAA08457 for <3d-ui@hitl.washington.edu>; Fri, 8 May 1998 08:53:08 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199805081553.IAA08457@wheaten.hitl.washington.edu> Received: from ASYNC3-CS2.NET.CS.CMU.EDU by ux2.sp.cs.cmu.edu id aa13051; 8 May 98 11:52 EDT X-Sender: jpierce@ux2.sp.cs.cmu.edu X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0 Date: Fri, 08 May 1998 11:50:41 -0400 To: 3d-ui@hitl.washington.edu From: Jeff Pierce Subject: Re: Various Issues In-Reply-To: <199805080355.XAA22343@snark.cs.brown.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Status: O At 11:55 PM 5/7/98 -0400, Joseph LaViola wrote: >I believe that if you place two screens up against the corner of two walls >and place a screen on the desk, the user can achieve a quality immersive >experience. You can tell who's involved in the tele-cubicle project, eh? ;) >Second, I have been thinking about the idea of applying the concept >of design patterns to user interaction, specifically interaction in virtual >environments. I realize that this is difficult task since we really >do not have a cohesive framework for classifying various techniques and a >good system or model for determining what techniques are best suited for >any particular application. Any thoughts? I think we can lay out some general patterns for interaction. For example, for tasks that require manipulating one object in the reference frame of another, we could create a framework that recommends a 2-handed interaction pattern. The thing that makes me nervous about this is that I think it's easier to apply a cookbook approach if you're designing algorithms than if you're building an interaction technique. I suspect we'd have designers simply following the patterns by rote and not thinking about whether the recommended techniques are really a match with the user's task. Of course, considering the state of affairs right now, a little guidance followed by rote might not be any worse than no guidance at all. >Finally, I am very interested in 3D gesture based interaction. One of the >metaphors I have been thinking about is called the 'wizard' or 'spellcater' >metaphor. The idea is that since we are in an enviroment that is computer >generated, we should be able to take advantage of what it can do for us. By >using hand gestures as a mechanism to invoke 'spells', the user should be able >to do things that cannot be done in the real world. I actually played with a bunch of ideas using this metaphor, but I never got around to actually building anything I thought about. I think the general metaphor has some nice properties. I'm appending my ideas (I keep a file of all the crazy things I come up with): look 'em over and we can talk about whether this is similar / different from your vision. Magic ----- - everyone talks about magic figuratively, but what if we let the user do magic literally? (ie casting spells as an interaction technique) Polymorph (change self) --------- - designers seem to be wedded to the idea of being human in VR - if we could be anything we wanted to be, what would it be useful to be? - bird -> fly - fish -> swim - insect -> fly, small size - giant -> large scale (navigation, god's eye view) - spider -> walk up walls, across ceiling, hang from spider threads - would this require the user to be able to look around and see themselves (avatar)? Would this be a problem if they aren't expecting to see an exact match with themselves anyway? - why limit ourselves to living forms? - Wonder twin powers - activate! - water, gas, fire - tools -> what if instead of using the tool we became the tool? Telekinesis ----------- - provides a model for the user to understand how they can move objects at a distance Clairaudiance / Clairvoyance ---------------------------- - see and hear things at a distance Wizard's Sight -------------- - a camera the user can control remotely while remaining "physically" in the same place Fly Walk through walls / Passwall Create Object Disintegrate Locate Object Simulcra (ex. WIM) - what would a spell casting interaction look like? - would you _need_ obscure gestures in this case? - Vocalization of the desired spell? - Pull down menus anachronistic? - Use of components (ex. magic wand)? More spell casting stuff ------------------------ - passwall -> walk through walls - gaseous form -> can float up/down, fit through small crevices - more freedom in providing feedback - user expects magic, not real world - puffs of smoke, flashes of lightning, things appearing and disappearing can be taken as a matter of course or made part of the story Crystal ball interface ---------------------- - let user see past events - let user see future - assumes world has some script of events to follow - let user look at other places - what's happening else at the current moment - especially interesting if world has multiple participants, continuing existence (ex. MUDs) - can also do incense and let user see visions in the smoke Gestural constructs ------------------- - rather than a gestural language composed of discrete postures or streams of postures, consider a gestural sketch (ideogram? hieroglyphic?) - user sketches a 3D structure in space, edits it as needed, then commands system to act on it - ex. glyphs O -+- / | \ -----> $ | /\ " Take me to the bank " - could use Loring's stuff on oversketching to edit glyphs - user gets visual feedback as to whether or not symbol has been sketched correctly - problem -> recognizing the sketches could be a significant problem, voice input would probably make a better alternative for command input anyway - could form an interesting part of a spell casting interface, though - extend the notion to having the user sketch "magic circles" on the ground with a staff Magic Mirror ------------ - alternative to crystal ball (see also scrying pool) - slightly different metaphor - can still have it show things, but add notion of being able to talk w/it - ask questions (source of knowledge) - also able to use it as a portal - preface commands w/ "mirror mirror on the wall..." - remember crystal balls not just tools for far-seeing but were conduits for action at a distance Magic cauldron -------------- - "Bubble bubble, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble" - another scrying device - not a direct source of knowledge, more a conduit to get access to sources - tool for creating effects, "casting spells" - effects determined by ingredients of cauldron Other magic tools ----------------- - rods, staffs, wands, rings, potions, lenses, boots, apparel, hats (think Mario!) - genie lamp -> requires better synthetic characters! - efreet bottle (general notion of supernatural agent) - in multi-user VE, environment administrator could take on role of one of these supernatural agents, and these techniques could be a means of seeking his attention / interacting w/him