An interface with weight: Taking interaction by tilt beyond disembodied metaphors

Abstract

We propose a novel way of using tilt as a style of interaction for palmtop computing, as well as a theoretical base for doing so. Beyond superficial and disembodied metaphors, the force of gravity has been chosen to guide navigation within a space larger than the palmtop’s screen. Gravity allows the user to experience ‘an interface with weight’; an understanding put forward as embodied which diverge from previous implementations of tilt interaction, as both the input style as well as the interface answer to the physical world.