This article describes development of the concept of Information Art, a type of ambient or peripheral display involving user-specified electronic paintings in which resident objects change appearance and position to foster awareness of personally relevant information. Our approach differs from others, however, in emphasizing end-user control and flexibility in monitored information and its resultant representation. The article provides an overview of the system's capabilities and describes an initial pilot study in which displays were given to four people to use for an extended period of time. Reactions were quite favorable and the trial use provided suggestions for system improvements.

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The Internet and World Wide Web have made a tremendous amount of information available to people today. Taking advantage of and managing this information, however, is becoming increasingly challenging due to its volume and the variety of sources available. We attempt to reduce this overload with the InfoCanvas, an ambient display of a personalized, information-driven, visual collage. Through a web-based interface, people identify information of interest, associate a pictorial representation with it, and place the representation on a virtual canvas. The end result is an information collage, displayed on a secondary monitor or net appliance, that allows people to keep tabs on information in a calm, unobtrusive manner. This paper presents details on how a person can create and manage information with the InfoCanvas, and how we provide such capabilities.

A~'I'RACT This paper describes the design of a highly versatile ambient display, the InfoCanvas. Through a novel interface, people identify information of interest and then "paint" an appealing and meaningful representation of it on a virtual canvas for later communication back to them. This new form of interaction with information allows people to keep tabs on useful, but peripheral, information in a calm, unobtrusive manner.

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