Virtual Shelves: Interactions with Orientation Aware Devices

This paper is about using a motion sensing device to access menu items in a virtual hemispherical shelving unit. The virtual shelves allow menu items to be accessed with kinesthetic movement, allowing muscle memory to dictate where things are rather than sight. The user moves the device around in front of them to choose the item or function placed in a preset location. Two experiments are done by the authors. The first is to find the bounds of the Virtual Shelves that they have created. To do this they use a Wiimote and scan the hemispherical planes in front of them vertically and horizontally. They found bounds on the edges of the shelves that were hard to access because of accuracy issues around the edges. The second experiment is a proof of concept where the Wiimote is replaced with a Nokia N93 with software loaded onto it with preset items in the shelves. The actions were able to be accomplished and in less clicks than it would take with the traditional interface.

This is a great leap forward for interfacing with phones. Smaller is not always better with electronics simply because of the interfacing issues. This solution allows for much easier use of the device and allows muscle memory to dictate use. Virtual Shelves would be awkward to use in public in its current state but after motion sensing gets more accurate the amount of movement required to select different shelves could be minimized and a simple twist of the phone might be able to do the trick.