Making it Easier to Interact with Technology Through Handheld Personal Universal Controllers

通过手持个人通用控制器更容易地与技术进行交互这是一个标准奖项。在这个项目中，PI将研究如何利用无线通信技术的手持计算机作为个人通用控制器（PUC）来控制各种家庭、办公室和工厂设备。当用户将PUC指向电灯开关、办公室的复印机、工厂的机床、家里的录像机、现场的测试设备或几乎任何其他类型的设备时，设备将向手持设备发送其控制参数的描述。PUC将使用这些信息来创建一个适当的控制面板，考虑到所需控件的属性，手持设备的属性（可用的显示类型和输入技术），以及用户的属性（首选的语言，是左手还是右手，按钮应该有多大，这取决于用户是喜欢使用手指还是手写笔）。然后，用户可以使用PUC控制设备。该设备不需要为用户界面投入太多的处理能力、硬件或成本，因为它只需要包含对其功能和当前设置的存储的描述，以及用于无线通信的硬件。PUC程序将使用智能的“基于模型”的技术来为每个用户定制有用和适当的接口。PI的初步研究表明，手持设备上的接口可以明显优于制造商提供的接口，因此PUC应该使人们能够更有效地使用他们的设备，并使更广泛的设备添加智能成为现实。PUC还可以方便残疾人访问，因为接口将根据个人的偏好和需求进行定制。但这项研究的好处不仅仅是远程控制设备，因为它将有助于进一步将用户界面从应用程序代码中分离出来，这从一开始就是用户界面软件研究的基本目标。

Making it Easier to Interact with Technology through Handheld PersonalUniversal ControllersThis is a standard award. In this project the PI will investigate how a hand-held computer exploiting wireless communications technologies can be used as a Personal Universal Controller (PUC) to control all kinds of home, office and factory equipment. When users point their PUC at a light switch, at a photocopier in an office, at a machine tool in a factory, at a VCR at home, at a piece of test equipment in the field, or at almost any other kind of device, the device will send to the hand-held a description of its control parameters. The PUC will use this information to create an appropriate control panel, taking into account the properties of the controls that are needed, the properties of the hand-held (the display type and input techniques available), and the properties of the user (what language is preferred, whether left or right handed, how big the buttons should be based on whether the user prefers using a finger or a stylus). The user can then control the device using the PUC. The device will not need to dedicate much processing power, hardware, or cost to the user interface, since it will only need to contain a description of its capabilities and storage for the current settings, along with hardware for wireless communication. PUC programs will use intelligent "model-based" techniques to create useful and appropriate interfaces that are customized for each user. The PI's preliminary research suggests that an interface on a hand-held can be significantly better than the interface supplied by the manufacturer, so the PUC should enable people to make more effective use of their equipment, as well as making it practical to add intelligence to a broader range of appliances. The PUC can also facilitate access for people with disabilities, since the interfaces will be customized to the individual's preferences and needs. But this research will have benefits beyond just remote control devices for appliances, in that it will help further the cause of separating the user interface from the application code, which has been a basic goal of user interface software research from the beginning.