Project Index
Research directions.
12Pixels: Exploring mobile creativity.
Recording sound with Special Moments.
Lumen: A shape-changing display.
Tactile user interfaces.
Gummi: A bendable computer.
Research directions.
I am interested in designing and investigating interfaces that seamlessly combine both digital and physical properties in everyday objects and tools. Such interfaces would not only be easy and enjoyable to use, but also they would allow us for new and exciting experiences that become only possible with digital technologies.
The projects archived below describe some of the modest steps that I took in this direction. They are loosely grouped in research themes; some of the work described below was done before I joined Sony CSL. Please, see individual project pages for more information.
12 Pixels: Exploring mobile creativity.
12Pixels is an innovative interface, mobile phone application, and web service that allows people to draw and share pixel-based imagery using only the regular twelve keys of the mobile phone. 12Pixels does not require expensive touch screen interfaces: anyone with a regular mobile phone and internet connection, everywhere from Tokyo to Nairobi, can create pixel-based art and share it with the world [more details...].
12Pixels is a collaborative project with Karl D.D. Willis. Sony Style of Japan released 12Pixels as a free service for general public in 2009.
Recording sound with Special Moments.
Special Moments proposes a new category of casual sound recording devices designed as everyday objects that can be used effectively without pressing buttons or selecting items from a menu. Instead they rely on embodied and gestural interaction to seamlessly blend sound recording into everyday user activities [more details...].
Special Moment is a collaborative project with Haruo Oba and Takuo Ikeda both from Sony Corporation. It was presented at CHI 2008 conference and reported in a prototype issue of Axis magazine.
Lumen: A shape-changing display.
Lumen is a concept of an interactive display device that can dynamically change its own mechanical shape in order to communicate information to the users [more details...].
Lumen is a collaborative project with Tatsushi Nashida and Shigeaki Maruyama, both from Sony Corporation. It was demonstrated at SIGGRAPH 2004 and ARS Electronica Festival 2005; it was also reported in the annual prototype issue of the Axis magazine.
Tactile user interfaces.
Tactile user interfaces allow people to perceive information through touch, leading to easier, more natural and enjoyable interaction.
My work on tactile user interfaces covers a range of projects, including the development of TouchEngine™ tactile feedback platform, designing tactile interfaces for pen interaction and small touch screens [more details ...].
Tactile interfaces research is a collaboration with Shigeaki Maruyama, Sony Corporation. It has been extensively published, reported in public media and released on on the market in a number of Sony products; which were the first consumer electronic products in the world that provided tactile feedback on touch screens.
Gummi: A bendable computer.
Gummi is an interface concept based on bending a flexible handheld computing device. We propose a concept of bendable computer, explore physical interactio techniques and screen interfaces for such devices [more details...]
Gummi was developed and investigated together with Carsten Schwesig and Ejiro Mori both Sony Corporation. Gummi design was presented at a number of conferences, demonstrated at the Wired NextFest festival and broadly covered in a variety of media.
Ivan Poupyrev (c) 1994-2010, updated 06/18/2010