Paper Reading #5: A Framework for Robust and Flexible Handling of Inputs with Uncertainty

Reference

Authors: Julia Schwarz(PhD student), Scott E. Hudson(Professor), Jennifer Mankoff(Assistant Professor) and Andrew D. Wilson(Senior researcher)*

Affiliations: HCII, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA and Microsoft Research* , Redmond, WA respectively.

Presentation: UIST’10, October 3–6, 2010, New York, New York, USA

Summary

Hypothesis

The most advanced forms of interactions today like touch, pen gestures as well as the next generation interaction like inexact interaction, though are great but still create inputs with uncertainty. There has not been a development of conventional infrastructure that can handle such uncertainties. This paper hypothesizes that the framework they developed for handling input with uncertainty would handle uncertainties in a systematic, extensible, and easy to manipulate fashion.

Methods

Six demonstrations which include tiny buttons that are manipulable using touch input, a text box that can handle multiple interpretations of spoken input, a scrollbar that can respond to inexactly placed input, and buttons which are easier to click for people with motor impairments are used to provide feedback about uncertain inputs.

The paper explains the various stages in processing of an uncertain inputs and then later shows how to encompass the framework they designed into those stages, like which interactor should receive an event. They then run the system thorough an example where a button is presses ambiguously. The framework is primarily based on probability and PMF calculations.They perform tests on 6 different cases of ambiguous inputs and describe how each of the cases are handled by the framework.

Results

They were able to show how relatively straightforward applications of their tool can enable novel interaction techniques, or simplify (and expand on) the implementation of interaction techniques that had previously been applied in an ad-hoc fashion. Demonstrations showed that the framework was very capable of handling multiple interpretations of alternative events with no extra effort. The last demonstration proved that the framework was capable of handling the input robustly, missing only two cases out of over four hundred.

Discussion

There have been many cases where I have been frustrated when I try to get something done while the machine does something else for me. It is not just the case of computer screen. This paper provides such a beautiful tool that will enhance the productivity and user experience of a device to much higher level than we have today. It should not be limited to only computers but applications of those algorithms and design ideas over other forms of technology can well be a major factor that can change the way we use machines everyday. Moreover development of a universal framework that is compatible to all platforms of operating systems can further enhance its ability and scope with time as people become used to the system.