Aims and Objectives

Resources available for information presentation and user interaction on mobile devices are limited (for example screen space) and volatile (the environment changes as the device is moved). Many existing mobile applications have user interfaces that fail to take these facts into account. Small displays "fill up" with information whilst sound remains underutilised. We believe there is the potential to solve these problems by dynamic allocation of interaction across modalities, devices, and interaction techniques. For example, a mobile phone's display may be unusable (the phone is at the user's ear) or inadequate (the user is running for a bus); in such circumstances, the device may employ audio feedback to supplement the limited or inaccessible visual feedback. Exploiting resources effectively implies a need to be able to switch between them sensibly, without disruption, while performing the same tasks. Effective methods of handling resource allocation and use in a mobile setting may also have useful applications elsewhere, e.g., information perceptualisation for visually impaired people.

This workshop will explore a radical approach: making applications that are sensitive to the presentational and interaction resources available to them and that are able to use information about resources to provide the best possible interaction environment for the current context of use. Context sensitivity is a necessary input for many of the dynamic reconfigurations we are suggesting an application should make. However, it must be combined with a knowledge of the resources available and appropriate techniques for deploying them to provide the best possible interaction environment.

There are a number of possible strategies available for resource-sensitive systems, ranging from notifying a user of resource change or limitation to automatic or semi-automatic dynamic reconfiguration of the user interface (e.g., adjusting display intensity based on ambient brightness, changing input or output modality based on user workload, modifying interaction techniques for different input devices, dynamically transforming data representation and interaction methods when moving an application from a desktop to a palmtop). Dynamic reconfiguration can be implemented by systematic replacement of one set of components by another or via "plastic" components capable of being modified to reflect changes in resource availability or context of use.

A panel of five experts in the field will give short presentations outlining their work in the area followed by an open discussion which will allow participants to discuss issues raised in the presentations or the position papers submitted. This should raise a number of research topics for future work. Topics discussed may include (but are not limited to) :

• Novel interaction techniques that facilitate information mappings (e.g. developing new audio or haptic output techniques that expand the possibilities for shifting information away from overloaded visual displays).
• Principles and heuristics for mapping information between modalities, devices, bandwidths, output or input techniques.
• Models and system representations of interaction resources that support dynamic reconfiguration of resource and resource use.
• Software architectures for dynamic reconfiguration of interaction resources
• Studies of the development, deployment and/or use of resource-sensitive systems.

Expert Panel

The following experts in the field have agreed to be panelists.

Position Papers

Attendees would normally be expected to be submit a one page, position paper outlining their views on the topic and the reasons for their interest in the topic. Specifically, what are the primary research challenges in this area and how can these challenges be tackled.

It is our intention to collate these position papers and distribute them to participants at the workshop. We hope to write up the conclusions of the discussion at the workshop and publish them in, for example, the SIGCHI Bulletin.

Submission Deadlines

Position papers (1 page) should be sent to the address given below by 15th September 2000. Submission can be electronic (e-mailed URL reference to a single HTML page or PDF document; or e-mailed PDF or plain text) or on paper..

Registration and Accommodation

For full details of registration to the workshop and the full conference go to the huc2k registration page. The huc2k travel page will tell you how to get to the HP Laboratories in Bristol where the workshop is being held.

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