Surface interaction: a paradigm and model for separating application and interface

ABSTRACT

From the point of view of the application designer, user interface services work by factoring some domain common to a range of applications, and implementing this separately. Existing services, such as window managers, UIMSs, or toolkits, either lack generality, or are limited in their separability. A new interface paradigm, here called surface interaction, separates application and interface by factoring presentation and its manipulation, rather than dialogue or functionality. The surface is thus a medium which can be controlled equally by the user or by the application. This paper outlines Presenter, an implementation of a model for surface interaction.

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Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Computer graphics

    • Graphics systems and interfaces

• Human-centered computing

  • Human computer interaction (HCI)

    • Interaction devices

      • Graphics input devices

• Software and its engineering

  • Software notations and tools

    • Development frameworks and environments

      • Integrated and visual development environments