1st International ICST Conference on Ambient Media and Systems

Research Article

TaPuMa: Tangible Public Map for Information Acquirement through the Things We Carry

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/ICST.AMBISYS2008.2913,
        author={Pranav Mistry and Tsuyoshi Kuroki and Chaochi Chang},
        title={TaPuMa: Tangible Public Map for Information Acquirement through the Things We Carry},
        proceedings={1st International ICST Conference on Ambient Media and Systems},
        publisher={ICST},
        proceedings_a={AMBI-SYS},
        year={2010},
        month={5},
        keywords={Tangible Public Map Tangible User Interfaces Interactive Environments Just-in-time Information Object Amelioration Public Map Real-life Objects Information Acquirement.},
        doi={10.4108/ICST.AMBISYS2008.2913}
    }
    
  • Pranav Mistry
    Tsuyoshi Kuroki
    Chaochi Chang
    Year: 2010
    TaPuMa: Tangible Public Map for Information Acquirement through the Things We Carry
    AMBI-SYS
    ICST
    DOI: 10.4108/ICST.AMBISYS2008.2913
Pranav Mistry1,*, Tsuyoshi Kuroki1,*, Chaochi Chang1,*
  • 1: MIT Media Laboratory, 20 Ames St., Cambridge, MA 02139
*Contact email: pranav@media.mit.edu, kuroki@media.mit.edu, ccchang@media.mit.edu

Abstract

The vast improvement in classical methods of information access and information retrieval has resulted from the invention of keyword-based search mechanism. Keywords serve as filters for desired information when users search in structured knowledge bases or with search engines such as Yahoo! or Google. In this paper we introduce TaPuMa, a Tangible Public Map, which allows people to use their own belongings, the objects they usually carry with them to access relevant, just-in-time information and to find locations of places or people from a public map. The paper also outlines and analyzes the advantages and challenges of this novel interaction mechanism, where real life objects serve as interfaces for information acquirement. At the end of the paper we briefly discuss the broad concept behind the project TaPuMa, 'Object Amelioration', where the functions of everyday objects can be expanded by using their affordances or functionalities in a variety of different contexts.