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WAND.R
National Institute of Design
The speculative magic wand that makes a smart home worth the trouble
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In human-computer interaction, an organic user interface (OUI) is a type of user interface that involves a non - flat display, where users control an object by manipulating an actual physical shape.
Form follows flow
OUIs physically adapt to the context of a user's multiple activities, eg. by taking on multiple shapes.
Input equals output:
A key feature of OUI is that the surface and its physical deformations are always the focus of user interaction.
Function equals form:
Coined by Frank Lloyd Wright, this means the shape of an interface determines its physical functionality, and vice versa
Key points
Humans evolved to use their hands to interact with their environment, so gestures come naturally to all of us.
The speech needs triggers, ill-suited for simple controls.
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Not always appropriate.
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Loud and not private or subtle.
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Limited AI even with Google, noise sensitive, keyword dependent, language/accents, latency.
Camera's have an issue of being always 'on'. Trust issues are associated with it.
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Capturing Video is also power intensive.
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Capture only 2D images, making it difficult to separate a user's hand form a complex optical background
Gestures are well-suited to expressing emotional silience. A musical conductor communicates a downbeat and tempo, but also so much more: dolco, marcato, confidence, sadness, longing, and more.
OUI Interactions
Ideation
Wand / Stylus / Pen
Control Devices
Material based heptic gesture
In mythology, a wand has been a symbol of power control. Ancient greeks and other civilisations have used it as a 'holder of energy'. Hence the wand holder is highly regarded.
It's been an instrument of magic (as they say, any sufficiently advanced technology...)
Gesture Mapping
Form explorations
Future scope
Since I found the wand and it’s subsequent distortions to be expressive in the forms it creates, These can themselves be used as interfaces i.e. how are the new forms read in HCI in the 3D space?
The mapping of certain interactions could also be used with other flexible forms as well, not just a wand.
Limitations
The wand uses the principle of 20-80 i.e. 20% of features used 80% of the time. It is not a universal remote control with each and every feature having a corresponding input.
It’s a speculative artifact which has technical limitations for now but aims to simplify the future smart homes in a very playful, fluid and intuitive way.