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IBM RealThings John Mullaly Advanced Human-Computer Interaction User Interface Architecture & Design IBM Corporation Austin, TX USA jmullaly@us.ibm.com ABSTRACT In this demonstration we present IBM RealThing?, experimental user interface objects modeled on familiar real-world objects. Traditional computer-based mechanisms are removed and replaced by controls that are theoretically more natural and intuitive, allowing users to focus more on their tasks and less on computer artifacts.[ l] Presented are several objects designed within the theoretical framework of RealThings, demonstrating innovative aspects of design at many levels, such as: the underlying object model, the object-view structure, interaction design, and visualization issues such as stylization and use of metaphor. Also demonstrated is the robust applicability of these designs to various user environments, such as the desktop, web browser, webtop, or 3D environments. Keywords User interface design, interaction design, design theory, industrial design, human-computer interaction, cognitive models, metaphor INTRODUCTION IBM RealThings are user interface objects modeled on familiar “real-world” objects. Though generally categorized as metaphorical, the design of RealThings is based less on metaphor than on the reality of the objects themselves. Metaphor is used only where it helps -- to aid interaction, or to convey abstract properties such as durability, simplicity, or sophistication. As for the design of objects themselves, Lakoff and Johnson have shown that categorization and metaphor are points on a continuum.[2] What this means for design is that the objects we create can be positioned on a spectrum where an object is more or less ‘like what it seems to be.’ It is at one end of this spectrum where we can say that an object really is what it seems to be. This would mean that the entailments, or expectations, associated with a user’s conceptualization of an object are largely met by that object. Used with permission of IBM Corporation The RealPhone, for example, is modeled closely on a real phone. It does everything that a comparable telephone does, except that it exists in software and it does several things that can’t be done with physical materials. But what is RealPhone? When we say RealPhone is a telephone, is telephone just a metaphor, or is it a category of objects in which RealPhone exists? We would like for users to conceptualize RealPhone as a real telephone, and thereby expect that they can interact with RealPhone in much the same way that they would interact with any other telephone. To achieve this, a truly object-oriented approach was taken in design at several levels. These aspects of design are outlined below, and will be covered in the demonstration. The Object Model The underlying object model is the most fundamental aspect of object-oriented design.[3] This is the model defining the objects to be designed, built, and interacted with by users. Also defined in the object model are the relationships between those objects. The Object-View Structure In object-oriented software it is through views that users experience objects. As such, views are essential to both the user’s conceptualization of the object model, and the fimctional effectiveness of the interface. It is the tension between the balance of these two interests, the fidelity of the object model vs. the extended capabilities of computer software, that has sparked much of the debate over the use of metaphor in software design. To achieve an effective balance of these interests, RealThings incorporate a novel view structure, in contrast to the multiple windowed views of conventional interfaces. Contiguous views are provided with a high degree of continuity between views. This continuity maintains the identity and user model of an object as a discrete bounded entity, but extends the bounds of the object. Interactions Within views, interactions are the means by which users perform their tasks. Like the views they are part of, interaction design must both support the object model and provide access to the enhanced capabilities. Interactions in RealThings are designed to do both, by fully supporting the interaction entailments expected of the object, as well as 13