Supervisor: Nicolas Roussel, senior researcher at INRIA Lille
Keywords: Human-computer interaction (HCI), tactile and gestural interaction, window systems, personal information management
Predominant graphical user interfaces result from the accumulation of concepts such as hierarchical file systems, command lines, menus and forms, windows and icons or hypertext. This accumulation happened in a relatively short time and has been followed by a longer period of stability. Most of the interaction techniques that we use were actually designed for the Xerox Star in the late 1970s, 20 years after the first time-shared computers and more than 30 years from now. A lot has changed over the years, though.
The Star designers devoted several work-years at the outset of the project discussing and evolving what they considered an appropriate conceptual model for an office information system: the metaphor of a physical office [1, 2]. The purpose of the metaphor was to simplify and clarify the system. For many years, the metaphorical desktop was the principal technique for realizing it along with documents, folders, file drawers, etc. Yet the range of today's computer-supported activities is much wider. There is a growing evidence that this metaphor and the associated interaction techniques are not up to the complexity of today's tasks. Empirical studies notably indicate that existing systems do not provide adequate support in real-life contexts characterized by multitasking, multiple information hierarchies and the coordinated use of multiple technologies [3].
Twenty years ago, Weiser envisioned a world in which we would no longer focus our attention on a single computer but where a multiplicity of interconnected devices would allow computation to vanish into the background [4]. Some might see in today's proliferation of interactive devices a sign of the coming age of this ubiquitous computing world. Yet although some interactions have been considerably simplified by these devices, they remain very far away behind desktop systems in terms of the complexity they allow to manage.
Traditional desktop systems did not scale well and the novel interactive devices emphasize simplicity over power. It is time to rethink the conceptual model of these systems and the associated interaction paradigms and techniques, i.e. to design the ubiquitous equivalent of yesterday's desktop.
MINT, a joint research team between INRIA Lille and the LIFL (UMR CNRS 8022) and L2EP laboratories of Lille 1 University focused on tactile and gestural interaction.
The successful PhD candidate will work on:
Participatory design workshops and possibly longitudinal studies will be used to determine users' tasks, problems and needs. Standard prototyping tools and techniques from the HCI community will be used to generate new ideas, get feedback from users and make informed choices between alternative solutions. Controlled studies based on experimental and quasi-experimental designs will be used to evaluate the chosen solutions.
Ideal candidates will have a Master in Computer Science, proficient English language skills (written and spoken) and a background in Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Graphics or Virtual Reality as documented by a Master thesis (or equivalent) or by successfully completed projects in the area.