MouseHaus Table: A Tangible User Interface for Urban Design

Chen-Je Huang

Design Machine Group

Community Design Activities Using colored paper/street map to engage

urban discussion

Motivation

How can we enhance design collaboration? How can we support design decisions? Add computing power to the design process Get the computing power off the screen and bring

urban discussion to the table

MouseHaus Table

A tabletop interactive simulation for urban design which provides a novel interface and simulation feedback

MouseHaus A simple pedestrian simulation for urban open

space

MouseHaus Table

TABLETOP

PROJECTOR

CAMERA

Ordinary Objects The users select what they want to use in

the simulation

One-Click Registration

BUILDING

/\PARK

Simulation and Feedback

Real-time simulation

Visual feedback

Demo

Downtown map on the table Register red paper as buildings Register green paper as parks Run the simulation Show the pattern Ordinary objects as the interface

Related Work

Urp, MIT 1999

EDC, University of Colorado 2000

Luminous Table, MIT 2002

What’s the difference?

Ordinary objects as the interface Easy setup

Initial User Study

Data Collection Verbal Interaction Gestural Interaction Questionnaire Post-Interview

Findings Changes made by Participants A, B, and C

Paper Trails

1 2 3

Mouse Trials

1 2 3 4

A 9 7 11 6 0 0 0

B 14 17 4 9 0 7 17

C 7 17 7 0 7 5 0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Paper#1

Paper#2

Paper#3

Mouse#1

Mouse#2

Mouse#3

Mouse#4

Numbers of Communication Events (verbal/gestural)

User Feedback

I like the way you manipulate, you can use your hand, you can move the paper. It creates the interaction between people and the computer - the interaction, the movement in the design process is really important - so through your movement of hand, it’s more real, tangible

Future Work

Advance the study about tangible interaction in the group setting

Build an interface that makes the rules of simulation visible

Summary

MouseHaus Table uses ordinary objects as interface. It provides urban designers and community members an interactive simulation to support urban decisions.