Thesis

  • electronics

Description:

Context as interface for the mobile web

This thesis is an attempted search for the future of mobile (web) interfaces. The mobile Internet has the potential to present us the right information at the right moment at all times. To make this possible, alternatives should be found for the currently lacking in- and output methods.

Interaction between human and computer is no longer bound to one specific location such as a desk. The evolution of mobile phones, the convergence of mobile devices and the fact that they are always on and always connected, grand us the ability to execute more and more tasks on location or on the move.

The paradigm of the mobile user interface is still in its infancy. Most of the time these devices rely on the WIMP model (Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device), an inheritance of the desktop computer. This model is based on the assumption that the user can always devote his full visual and cognitive resources to an interaction. However, the use of a mobile device takes place in the richness of daily life, where obstacles have to be avoided, conversations are made and objects are carried with the hands. Attention is shared between application and the physical environment including all its distractions and interruptions.

In order to make the usage of mobile applications fit within the frame of the mobile user, input requirements should be lowered or simplified. By using sensors, an application could be made aware of the situational context of its user. This way it could react to it and understand the personal information needs of its user and the right time to share it. This is only the first step, because the right information channels to communicate this information are also of importance. The ultimate vision is an application that supports the user in achieving his goals in a non-obstrusive way, without dragging him out of the flow of his activities. This way the user can focus on his tasks with a minimal loss of attention.

The search towards both input- and output methods is conjoined in the question: “How can context-awareness lift or compensate the interface restrictions of mobile applications?” To surpass speculation and achieve concrete results, rapid prototyping has served as the research methodology, in which small prototypes are created, tested with a small group of people and used as the foundation for the next prototype.

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Roles:

  • Concept
  • Development
  • Design

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