Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Due to the unique benefits of both worlds outlined above, people typically use not
only paper or only digital documents. Rather they
combine
both worlds. Depending
on the type of information and the context of use, some information is preferred
in a printed form while other information is accessed using digital technology. For
example, paper might be preferred for reading a longer document, while a computer
might be the tool of choice for composing new documents or for looking up infor-
mation on the Web. This combined use of printed and digital documents leads to
disruptive transitions. Users must cope with different representational media as well
as with different interactions and tools. Most important, while many digital docu-
ments can be easily printed on paper, the reverse direction is more challenging. It is
still difficult to efficiently digitize paper-based information.
During the past two decades, a new area of research has formed that develops
technical solutions for the integration of paper-based and digital information. Rather
than replacing one medium by the other, the main goal of this strand of research is
to reduce the gap between printed and digital documents and to combine the best
of both worlds. Since many paper-based activities also involve using pens, most in-
terfaces do not only support using physical paper, but also physical pens, and make
both of them key elements of digital user interfaces. This presents novel opportu-
nities for improving computer support for document-based activities. Research on
Pen-and-Paper User Interfaces can be assigned to the fields of Ubiquitous Comput-
ing and Tangible User Interfaces, which aim at extending computing beyond the
computer desktop into the physical space that surrounds us.
The present topics inscribes into this strand of research and focuses on how to
integrate pens, physical paper, and computers. The main question addressed in this
topic is as follows:
How to design user interfaces that effectively integrate traditional pen-and-
paper-based practices with digital documents?
Our answer is three-fold. Each part of the topic addresses this overall question
from a different perspective:
First, this topic provides a comprehensive overview of prior research on Pen-
and-Paper User Interfaces. At the time of publication of this topic, this is the most
complete and up-to-date survey of the field. It gives extensive insights into technolo-
gies, technical frameworks and existing concepts for user interfaces.
Second, looking at Pen-and-Paper User Interfaces on a rather abstract, conceptual
level, the topic introduces a generic interaction model. Going beyond the individ-
ual interaction techniques presented in prior work, this model provides systematic
guidelines for designing Pen-and-Paper User Interfaces.
Third, the topic provides a concrete instantiation of the model: the CoScribe
framework. CoScribe introduces an integrated set of interaction techniques that sup-