mediaBlocks: physical containers, transports, and controls for online media

We present a tangible user interface based upon mediaBlocks: small, electronically tagged wooden blocks that serve as physical icons (“phicons”) for the containment, transport, and manipulation of online media. MediaBlocks interface with media input and output devices such as video cameras and projectors, allowing digital media to be rapidly “copied” from a media source and “pasted” into a media display. MediaBlocks are also compatible with traditional GUIs, providing seamless gateways between tangible and graphical interfaces. Finally, mediaBlocks act as physical “controls” in tangible interfaces for tasks such as s equencing collections of media elements. CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: H.5.2 [User Interfaces] Input devices and strategies; H.5.1 [Multimedia Information Systems] Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities Additional Keywords: tangible user interface, tangible bits, phicons, physical constraints, ubiquitous compu ting

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