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Supporting device discovery and spontaneous interaction with spatial references

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Abstract

The RELATE interaction model is designed to support spontaneous interaction of mobile users with devices and services in their environment. The model is based on spatial references that capture the spatial relationship of a user’s device with other co-located devices. Spatial references are obtained by relative position sensing and integrated in the mobile user interface to spatially visualize the arrangement of discovered devices, and to provide direct access for interaction across devices. In this paper we discuss two prototype systems demonstrating the utility of the model in collaborative and mobile settings, and present a study on usability of spatial list and map representations for device selection.

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Acknowledgments

The presented research was supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant GR/S77097/01, “Relative Positioning of Mobile Objects”) and the European Commission (contract 013790, “RELATE”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computing Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Hans Gellersen, Carl Fischer, Roswitha Gostner, Gerd Kortuem & Enrico Rukzio

  2. ETH Zurich/SAP Research, Zurich, Switzerland

    Dominique Guinard

  3. Informatics Research Institute, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK

    Christian Kray

  4. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany

    Sara Streng

Authors
  1. Hans Gellersen
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  2. Carl Fischer
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  3. Dominique Guinard
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  4. Roswitha Gostner
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  5. Gerd Kortuem
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  6. Christian Kray
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  7. Enrico Rukzio
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  8. Sara Streng
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Correspondence to Hans Gellersen.

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Gellersen, H., Fischer, C., Guinard, D. et al. Supporting device discovery and spontaneous interaction with spatial references. Pers Ubiquit Comput 13, 255–264 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-008-0206-3

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