Comparing an Iconic Interface to a Text-based and Virtual Paths Interface for Effective Interaction in an Interactive Workspace
Published in Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (EdMedia), 2006
Recommended citation: Biehl, J. & Bailey, B. 2006. "Comparing an Iconic Interface to a Text-based and Virtual Paths Interface for Effective Interaction in an Interactive Workspace." In E. Pearson & P. Bohman (Eds.), In Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (EdMedia'06). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC pp. 581-586.
ARIS is an iconic interface that enables users to relocate applications and redirect input among devices in an interactive workspace. We empirically compared the use of our iconic interface, ARIS, to a text-based and virtual paths (VP) interface for relocating applications and redirecting input. Results showed that the iconic interface was more effective than the text-based interface and almost as effective as the VP interface. Since the use of text-based interfaces is common, the use of an iconic interface enables relocation and redirection tasks to be performed more effectively than today. Though it imposes a small additional cost to users, an iconic interface supports additional features useful for interactive workspaces that a VP interface does not.