Bottles as a Minimal Interface to Access Digital Information
We present the design of a minimal interface to access digital information using glass bottles as "containers" and "controls". The project illustrates our attempt to explore the transparency of an interface that weaves itself into the fabric of everyday life, and exploits the emotional aspects of glass bottles that are both tangible and visual. This paper describes the design of the bottle interface, and the implementation of the musicBottles installation, in which the opening of each bottle releases the sound of a specific instrument.

Designing a Reconstructive Tool for Field Archaeological Excavation
We introduce GeoSCAPE, a "reconstructive" tool for capturing measurement data in field archaeology and facilitating a 3D visualization of an excavation rendered in computer graphics. This project is carried out by extending a recently developed an orientation-aware digital measuring tape, called HandSCAPE that has been examined to address the efficiency of bridging measuring and modeling for on-site application areas [2]. In this paper, we present the GeoSCAPE system using the same digital tape measure interacting with an enhancing archaeological-specific 3D visualizations the goal is to provide visual reconstruction methods by acquiring accurate field measurements and visualizing the complex work of an archaeologist during the course of on-site excavation.

GeoSCAPE is an application that facilitates capturing a 3D visualization of an archeological excavation using HandSCAPE, an orientation-aware digital tape measure. HandSCAPE is an input device for digitizing field measurements to visualize the magnitude and direction of the resulting vectors with computer graphics. Using embedded orientation-sensing hardware, HandSCAPE captures relevant vector information on each linear measurement and transmits this data wirelessly to a remote computer in real time. The GeoSCAPE software analyzes this data, using trigonometry to define vector equations in Cartesian coordinates. Using certain heuristics, these vectors are applied by GeoSCAPE to recreate an archeological excavation rendered in computer graphics.

Glass bottles have been a part of human culture for thousands of years, serving both practical and aesthetic functions. The "bottles" project explores the transparency of an interface that weaves itself into the fabric of everyday life. Seamless extension of physical affordances and metaphors into the digital domain is a key principle for the design. The "bottlogues" piece explores narrative contents for our bottles. A set of three bottles is filled with a story told by three characters. Upon opening each bottle, the man, eagle and stag start telling their part of the narrative. Physical manipulation of the bottles - opening and closing - is the primary mode of interaction with digital contents. This project grew out of the "musicBottles" project to explore a wider variety of contents as well as both artistic and practical applications of the idea: bottles as containers for bits. The character voices were played by Kristin Hall, John Underkoffler and Jofish Kaye. We would also like to thank Nyssim Lefford for sound engineering.

musicBottles introduces a tangible interface that deploys bottles as containers and controls for digital information. The system consists of a specially designed table and three corked bottles that "contain" the sounds of the violin, the cello and the piano in Edouard Lalo's Piano Trio in C Minor, Op. 7. Custom-designed electromagnetic tags embedded in the bottles enable each one to be wirelessly identified. The opening and closing of a bottle is also detected. When a bottle is placed onto the stage area of the table and the cork is removed, the corresponding instrument becomes audible. A pattern of colored light is rear-projected onto the table's translucent surface to reflect changes in pitch and volume. The interface allows users to structure the experience of the musical composition by physically manipulating the different sound tracks.

GeoSCAPE is a reconstructive tool for capturing measurement data in field archaeology and facilitating a 3-D visualization of an excavation rendered in computer graphics. This project is carried out by extending a recently developed orientation-aware digital measuring tape, called HandSCAPE that has been examined to address the efficiency of bridging measuring and modeling for on-site application areas. GeoSCAPE allows the user to navigate the archaeological excavation site virtually with immediate access to excavation information on-site. The timely and accurate result would verify clear interpretations while the excavator obtains increments of information on-site. This will improve collaboration between on-site and laboratory archaeological research.

HandSCAPE is a vectorizing digital tape measure as an input device for digitizing field measurements, and visualizing the volume of the resulting vectors with computer graphics. Using embedded orientation-sensing hardware, HandSCAPE captures relevant vectors on each linear measurements and transmits this data wirelessly to a remote computer in real-time. Combining physical measuring and computer modeling as a seamless step enhances the efficiency of on-site measuring tasks with the addition of digital functionality. The potential utility of HandSCAPE is for on-site measuring application areas such as archeological surveys, interior design, and storage space allocation. Thus, HandSCAPE is a tangible interface that provides seamless relationships between digital and physical space, and preserves human senses and skills.

musicBottles introduces a tangible interface that deploys bottles as containers and controls for digital information. The system consists of a specially designed table and three corked bottles that "contain" the sounds of the violin, the cello and the piano in Edouard Lalo's Piano Trio in C Minor, Op. 7. Custom-designed electromagnetic tags embedded in the bottles enable each one to be wirelessly identified. The opening and closing of a bottle is also detected. When a bottle is placed onto the stage area of the table and the cork is removed, the corresponding instrument becomes audible. A pattern of colored light is rear-projected onto the table's translucent surface to reflect changes in pitch and volume. The interface allows users to structure the experience of the musical composition by physically manipulating the different sound tracks.

The metaDESK: Models and Prototypes for Tangible User Interfaces The metaDESK is a user interface platform demonstrating new interaction techniques we call “tangible user inter-faces.” We explore the physical instantiation of interface elements from the graphical user interface paradigm, giving physical form to windows, icons, handles, menus, and controls. The design and implementation of the metaDESK display, sensor, and software architectures is discussed. A prototype application driving an interaction with geographi-cal space, Tangible Geospace, is presented to demonstrate these concepts.

Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits and Atoms. This paper presents our vision of Human Computer Interaction (HCI): "TangibleBits." Tangible Bits allows users to "grasp & manipulate"bits in the center of users' attention by coupling the bits with everydayphysical objects and architectural surfaces. Tangible Bits also enablesusers to be aware of background bits at the periphery of human perceptionusing ambient display media such as light, sound, airflow, and water movementin an augmented space. The goal of Tangible Bits is to bridge the gaps betweenboth cyberspace and the physical environment, as well as the foregroundand background of human activities. This paper describes three key concepts of Tangible Bits: interactivesurfaces; the coupling of bits with graspable physical objects; and ambientmedia for background awareness. We illustrate these concepts with threeprototype systems - the metaDESK, transBOARD and ambientROOM - to identify underlying research issues.

The metaDESK is our first platform for exploring the design of tangible user interfaces. The metaDESK integrates multiple 2D and 3D graphic displays with an assortment of physical objects and instruments, sensed by an array of optical, mechanical, and electromagnetic field sensors. The metaDESK "brings to life" these physical objects and instruments as tangible interfaces to a range of graphically-intensive applications. Using the metaDESK platform, we are studying issues such as a) the physical embodiment of GUI (graphical user interface) widgets such as icons, handles, and windows; b) the coupling of everyday physical objects with the digital information that pertains to them.

Professor Hiroshi Ishii joined the MIT Media Lab and founded the Tanblig Media Group at the lab - change the "painted bits" of GUIs to "tangible bits" by giving physical form to digital information and computation.