Presentation

A realistic design for high-function applications may require a combination of presentations ranging from realistic for common and simple tasks to abstract for complex ones.

Some tasks are by nature abstract and have no obvious real-world representation. It is our expectation that some of the interaction mechanisms developed for RealThings will be appropriate and useful even for these tasks.

One approach to addressing a spectrum of objects, task requirements, and users is to base implementations on a model-view paradigm. The model-view paradigm separates object semantics, what an object does, from its view, which establishes how the user interacts with it. In fact, we have experimented with extending this paradigm to model-view-presentation, which makes a further distinction between the abstract definition of the view and its actual rendering.

Both approaches allow developers to create objects that can present different appearances and interaction techniques to users. This means each user can have an interface style that is appropriate, and that they are most comfortable using, in the current situation. The RealCDsTM shown below present three different presentation styles.

3 different views of RealCD

We are also designing programming frameworks that make it easy and productive for developers to provide multiple presentation and interaction styles for an object. This approach will allow third parties to provide alternative styles, giving more choices to users - similar to the multiple screen savers and color-scheme options offered today.