Cross-Device Interaction With Meta Spaces Designing Meaningful Interaction with Building Information Models across Devices

Abstract

The one user one device paradigm has been prevalent since personal computers became readily available. While there are mentions of cross-device related research as far back as 1981, research on Cross-device interaction accelerated with Mark Weisers article on Ubiquitous Computing. This was some thirty years ago and the field of Cross-device interaction has become fragmented as the field expanded. As an answer to the fragmented landscape in Cross-device interaction, Brudy et al. recently set out to create a taxonomy to establish common ground for researchers in the field. We use this unification of the Cross-device interaction field, to examine how relevant the state of the art on Cross-device interaction is in the Building Information Context. We do this by designing a set of interfaces for Sweco, a European engineering consultancy company developing a tool for interacting with Building Information Models across devices. In doing so, we carry out Research Through Design. The results show that while the state of art on Cross-device interaction is indeed useful, research on interaction techniques for moving between devices have focused strongly on input modalities and technology which might not be readily available in an enterprise context. Based on these results, we provide a framework that aim at helping future designers make conscious decisions when design for cross-device interaction, as well as a set of consolidated guidelines from the state of art, to help designers create better experiences.