Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Linked Open Webble:
Connecting Webbles to the World Wide Web
Nicolas Spyratos and Tsuyoshi Sugibuchi
Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique, Universite Paris-Sud 11, France
{
Nicolas.Spyratos,Tsuyoshi.Sugibuchi
}
@lri.fr
Abstract.
Webble technology is a media technology allowing media
generation by direct manipulation. Webble users can build systems and
interfaces by interactively combining visual components, called webbles,
and dynamically connecting functions of components to create new, com-
posite components. A casual user can simply place one webble on another
and plug it in, and the combination will be able to run immediately
as-
suming
the connected functions are compatible. However, the current
webble technology provides virtually no means for (a) searching a poten-
tially huge pool of webbles to find those needed for a specific application
and (b) knowing whether the functions of two webbles are compatible
(and therefore whether the webbles can be connected). In this paper, we
propose an approach to a solution for this problem.
1 Introduction
Webble technology is a media technology allowing media generation by direct
manipulation [1]. Webble users can build systems and interfaces by interactively
combining visual components, called
webbles
, and dynamically connecting func-
tions of components to create new, composite components. Each function of a
webble is physically represented as a webble slot. Casual users can simply place
one webble over another (by drag-and-drop), plug it in, and the combination
will be able to run immediately,
assuming
that the connected functions are com-
patible.
Therefore, when a webble is dropped on another, one of two things can happen:
if the relevant slot types of the two webbles are compatible then the webbles are
effectively connected and the new, composite webble is available for further use;
otherwise there is no connection established and therefore no creation of a new,
composite webble. In other words, placing one webble on another and plugging
it in is
not
necessarily creating a connection, unless there is slot compatibility.
The long term vision of webble technology is to start with an open pool of
atomic webbles created by an initial group of technology oriented users, and
grow it to a world wide webble pool that can be accessed freely by casual or
professional users. The webble pool users will either use existing components for
their applications, or create new components from old and contribute to growing
the pool by making their webbles available to the webble community.
