The human device abstraction

Abstract

LOOKING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION POINTER:A human device abstraction is proposed as a way to promote development of commercial applications which apply advanced sensing and viewing technologies found in human computer interaction (HCI) research disciplines such as virtual and enhanced reality.As powerful as the pointer abstraction has been, it was originally conceived as a way to unify the devices commonly available at that time and is no longer capable of providing the same benefits of device for the rapidly growing set of higher bandwidth devices available today. A few simple enhanced reality examples are presented which show how human device compliant applications can be developed which are compatible with future sensor technology advancements and remain stable as these device configurations evolve and change over time.In pointer based development environments such as X/Motif, non-conforming devices are supported with device extension services using abstractions like "valuator" and "sensor". The state of a digitising tablet, for instance, might be represented as separate X and Y valuators or a generic electromagnetic tracker might support a numbered sequence of rigid body matrix sensors. While non-conforming devices are technically supported the relationship between sensors and resulting application interaction is left to individual developers to decide.