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Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic

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Randall B. SmithAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '87: Proceedings of the SIGCHI/GI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and Graphics Interface

Pages 61 - 67

https://doi.org/10.1145/29933.30861

Published: 01 May 1986 Publication History

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Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the Alternate Reality Kit (ARK), an animated environment for creating interactive simulations. ARK is built upon a physical-world metaphor: all objects have an image, a position, a velocity, and can experience forces. Users manipulate objects with a mouse-operated “hand” which enables them to carry and throw objects, to press buttons, and to operate sliders.

The interface features are discussed in light of a general user interface tension between literalism and magic. Literal features are defined to be those that are true to the interface's metaphor. Literal features enhance an interface's learnability. Magical features are defined to be those capabilities that deliberately violate the metaphor in order to provide enhanced functionality. Discussion of each ARK feature includes informal observations of early ARK users, an assessment of the feature's learnability, of its usefulness, and of its position on the magical-literal axis.

Even though ARK includes magical features, applications-level users have be trained in a few minutes. Although this paper is about ARK, the tension between literalism and magic raises some interesting questions on its own. Some of these questions are presented briefly in the conclusion.

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Cited By

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Dunnell KAgarwal GPataranutaporn PLippman AMaes P(2024)AI-Generated Media for Exploring Alternate RealitiesExtended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650861(1-8)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3650861
Beaudouin-Lafon M(2023)Beyond Applications: Interaction Substrates and InstrumentsProceedings of the 34th Conference on l'Interaction Humain-Machine10.1145/3583961.3583968(1-15)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3583961.3583968
Dix AGill SHare JRamduny-Ellis DDix AGill SRamduny-Ellis DHare J(2022)Theory and Philosophy of PhysicalityTouchIT10.1093/oso/9780198718581.003.0022(503-526)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2022
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Index Terms

Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Computer graphics
    1. Animation
  2. Modeling and simulation
2. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic

This paper presents an overview of the Alternate Reality Kit (ARK), an animated environment for creating interactive simulations. ARK is built upon a physical-world metaphor: all objects have an image, a position, a velocity, and can experience forces. ...
Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic

This paper presents an overview of the Alternate Reality Kit (ARK), an animated environment for creating interactive simulations. ARK is built upon a physical-world metaphor: all objects have an image, a position, a velocity, and can experience forces. ...
Experiences with the Alternate Reality Kit: An Example of the Tension between Literalism and Magic

This article presents an overview of the Alternate Reality Kit, an animated environment for creating interactive simulations. ARK is built upon a physical-world metaphor: All objects have an image, a position, a velocity, and the ability to experience ...

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Information

Published In

CHI '87: Proceedings of the SIGCHI/GI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and Graphics Interface

May 1987

344 pages

ISBN:0897912136

DOI:10.1145/29933

ACM SIGCHI Bulletin Volume 17, Issue SI
May 1987
319 pages
ISSN:0736-6906
DOI:10.1145/30851
Editors:
John M. Carroll,
Peter P. Tanner
Issue’s Table of Contents
ACM SIGCHI Bulletin Volume 18, Issue 4
April 1987
319 pages
ISSN:0736-6906
DOI:10.1145/1165387
Issue’s Table of Contents

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 May 1986

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CHI/GI87

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SIGCHI

CHI/GI87: CHI/GI 1987 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and Graphics Interface

April 5 - 9, 1987

Ontario, Toronto, Canada

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CHI '87 Paper Acceptance Rate 46 of 166 submissions, 28%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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Cited By

View all

Dunnell KAgarwal GPataranutaporn PLippman AMaes P(2024)AI-Generated Media for Exploring Alternate RealitiesExtended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650861(1-8)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3650861
Beaudouin-Lafon M(2023)Beyond Applications: Interaction Substrates and InstrumentsProceedings of the 34th Conference on l'Interaction Humain-Machine10.1145/3583961.3583968(1-15)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3583961.3583968
Dix AGill SHare JRamduny-Ellis DDix AGill SRamduny-Ellis DHare J(2022)Theory and Philosophy of PhysicalityTouchIT10.1093/oso/9780198718581.003.0022(503-526)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2022
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198718581.003.0022
Dix AGill SHare JRamduny-Ellis DDix AGill SRamduny-Ellis DHare J(2022)Computational Modelling and ImplementationTouchIT10.1093/oso/9780198718581.003.0021(480-502)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2022
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Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic

Experiences with the alternate reality kit: an example of the tension between literalism and magic

Experiences with the Alternate Reality Kit: An Example of the Tension between Literalism and Magic