Interactive Public Ambient Displays: Transitioning From Implicit to Explicit, Public to Personal, Interaction with Multiple Users

We develop design principles and an interaction framework for sharable, interactive public ambient displays that support the transition from implicit to explicit interaction with both public and personal information. A prototype system implementation that embodies these design principles is described. We use novel display and interaction techniques such as simple hand gestures and touch screen input for explicit interaction and contextual body orientation and position cues for implicit interaction. Techniques are presented for subtle notification, self-revealing help, privacy controls, and shared use by multiple people each in their own context. Initial user feedback is also presented, and future directions discussed.