HandMove: a system for creating animated user interface components by direct manipulation

We describe HandMove (Human ANimation by Direct Manipulation of Objects and Visual Elements), a highly interactive system for building animated scenes by direct manipulation. Its underlying model is based on concurrent evolution of graphical objects, position and attribute constraints, trajectory-based motion, event synchronization. Animation may be produced by time signals, user input or application values. Our objective is twofold: first, to present an animation model allowing intuitive and simple descriptions of complex animated scenes without textual programming; next, to integrate the resulting animation as dynamic elements in user interfaces built with a UIMS (User Interface Management System).