Prototyping tools for hybrid interactions

In using the term 'hybrid interactions', we refer to interaction
forms that comprise both tangible and intangible interactions as
well as a close coupling of the physical or embodied representation
with digital output. Until now, there has been no description of a
formal design process for this emerging research domain, no
description that can be followed during the creation of these types
of interactions. As a result, designers face limitations in
prototyping these systems. In this thesis, we share our systematic
approach to envisioning, prototyping, and iteratively developing
these interaction forms by following an extended interaction design
process. We share our experiences with process extensions in the
form of toolkits, which we built for this research and utilized to
aid designers in the development of hybrid interactive systems. The
proposed tools incorporate different characteristics and are
intended to be used at different points in the design process. In
Sketching with Objects, we describe a low-fdelity toolkit that is
intended to be used in the very early phases of the process, such
as ideation and user research. By introducing Paperbox, we present
an implementation to be used in the mid-process phases for fnding
the appropriate mapping between physical representation and digital
content during the creation of tangible user interfaces (TUI) atop
interactive surfaces. In a follow-up project, we extended this
toolkit to also be used in conjunction with capacitive sensing
devices. To do this, we implemented Sketch-a-TUI. This approach
allows designers to create TUIs on capacitive sensing devices
rapidly and at low cost. To lower the barriers for designers using
the toolkit, we created the Sketch-a-TUIApp, an application that
allows even novice users (users without previous coding experience)
to create early instantiations of TUIs. In order to prototype
intangible interactions, we used open soft- and hardware components
and proposed an approach of investigating interactivity in
correlation with intangible interaction forms on a higher fdelity.
With our fnal design process extension, Lightbox, we assisted a
design team in systematically developing a remote interaction
system connected to a media façade covering a building. All of the
above-mentioned toolkits were explored both in real-life contexts
and in projects with industrial partners. The evaluation was
therefore mainly performed in the wild, which led to the adaptation
of metrics suitable to the individual cases and contexts.