Peephole displays: pen interaction on spatially aware handheld computers

Abstract

The small size of handheld computers provides theconvenience of mobility at the expense of reduced screen space for display and interaction. Prior research has identified the value of spatially aware displays, in which a position-tracked display provides a window on a larger virtual workspace. This paper builds on that work by suggesting two-handed interaction techniques combining pen input with spatially aware displays. Enabling simultaneous navigation and manipulation yields the ability to create and edit objects larger than the screen and to drag and drop in 3-D. Four prototypes of the Peephole Display hardware were built, and several Peephole-augmented applications were written, including a drawing program, map viewer, and calendar. Multiple applications can be embedded into a personal information space anchored to the user's physical reference frame. A usability study with 24 participants shows that the Peephole technique can be more effective than current methods for navigating information on handheld computers.