The TAC Paradigm: Specifying Tangible User Interfaces

ORIT SHAER, NANCY LELAND, EDUARDO H. CALVILLO-GAMEZ, ROBERT J.K. JACOB

Abstract This paper introduces a paradigm for describing and specifying Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs). The proposed TAC (Token and Constraints) paradigm captures the core components of TUIs while addressing many of the conceptual challenges unique to building these interfaces. The paradigm enables the description of a broad range of TUIs by providing a common set of constructs. Thus, the TAC Paradigm lays the foundation for a high level description language and a software toolkit for TUIs. We evaluate the proposed paradigm by testing its ability to specify a wide variety of existing TUIs.


Keywords: Tangible User Interface (TUI), Physical Computing, Token and Constraints
(TAC), User Interface Management System (UIMS), User Interface Description
Language (UIDL), Software toolkit.

The TAC Paradigm: Specifying Tangible User Interfaces
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-004-0298-3
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
Volume 8 , Issue 5 (September 2004)
Pages: 359 - 369
Year of Publication: 2004
ISSN:1617-4909