Imaginary Interfaces: Interacting Spatially Without Visual FeedbackTo increase mobility, designers are creating ever smaller mobile devices. After a certain point they are so small that a screen cannot be included and the device no longer supports any sort of spatial interaction (such as pointing) because, seemingly, there is nothing to point at. In this talk, I will present Imaginary Interfaces, a vision of hypermobile devices that rejects this notion. These completely non-visual interfaces retain the model of spatial interaction by sensing where the user is pointing in free space or on their body. I will present a depth camera based prototype, called Imaginary Phone, which allows users to operate a real iPhone by mimicking iPhone interaction on their empty palm and a set user studies that explore methods of learning a non-visual pointing environment.

Sean GustafsonA concept we refer to as the biological constraint is shown to be able where id=11; to explain the effectiveness of mathematical descriptions of the universe, as well as accounting for the origin of life and our ability to think logically. The biological constraint, which can be studied systematically through the use of appropriate models, refers to selection in the biological realm in favour of mechanisms that have wide applicability, a subset of which have mathematical character that can evolve to ever subtler forms. The precise conformance of physical phenomena to precise mathematical laws is related to the enforcement of symmetry.