Rooms: the use of multiple virtual workspaces to reduce space contention in a window-based graphical user interface

A key constraint on the effectiveness of window-based human-computer interfaces is that the display screen is too small for many applications. This results in “window thrashing,” in which the user must expend considerable effort to keep desired windows visible. Rooms is a window manager that overcomes small screen size by exploiting the statistics of window access, dividing the user's workspace into a suite of virtual workspaces with transitions among them. Mechanisms are described for solving the problems of navigation and simultaneous access to separated information that arise from multiple workspaces.

[1]  G. W. Furnas,et al.  Generalized fisheye views , 1986, CHI '86.

[2]  Austin Henderson,et al.  A multiple, virtual-workspace interface to support user task switching , 1986, CHI '87.

[3]  A diSessaAndrea.  A principled design for an integrated computational environment , 1985 .

[4]  Steven K. Feiner,et al.  An experimental system for creating and presenting interactive graphical documents , 1982, TOGS.

[5]  Christopher F. Herot.  Spatial Management Of Data , 1979, Fifth International Conference on Very Large Data Bases, 1979..

[6]  Eric Harslem,et al.  Designing the STAR User Interface , 1987, ECICS.

[7]  Jennifer Widom,et al.  Whiteboards: a graphical database tool , 1986, TOIS.

[8]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  Virtual memory , 1970, CSUR.

[9]  Mark Apperley,et al.  Data base navigation: an office environment for the professional , 1982 .

[10]  Alan P. Batson,et al.  Characteristics of program localities , 1976, CACM.

[11]  Neil Blumberg,et al.  The Problem-Oriented System , 1975, The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine.

[12]  Ivan E. Sutherland,et al.  Sketchpad a Man-Machine Graphical Communication System , 1899, Outstanding Dissertations in the Computer Sciences.

[13]  Misha Pavel,et al.  Window-based computer dialogues , 1987 .

[14]  Douglas C. Engelbart,et al.  A research center for augmenting human intellect , 1968, AFIPS Fall Joint Computing Conference.

[15]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  Working Sets Past and Present , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering.

[16]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  The working set model for program behavior , 1968, CACM.

[17]  Adele Goldberg,et al.  Smalltalk-80 - the interactive programming environment , 1984 .

[18]  Andrea A. diSessa,et al.  A Principled Design for an Integrated Computational Environment , 1985, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[19]  Kevin Comerford Kahn.  Program behavior and load dependent system performance. , 1976 .

[20]  Randall H. Trigg,et al.  Notecards in a nutshell , 1986, CHI '87.

[21]  Warren Robinett,et al.  Virtual environment display system , 1987, I3D '86.