Research Information
Cambridge Visual Networks is exploring new ways of distributing and accessing visual information, in particular by challenging the traditional model of computing as 'one machine with one nearby screen'.
Exbiblio has a simple way of giving paper documents much of the functionality of their electronic counterparts, without requiring any changes to the paper, the printing or the publishing. It works on already-printed documents as well as those to come in future. Sound intriguing? It is!
At DisplayLink (formerly Newnham Research) we've been challenging the traditional PC hardware model. It has been with us for over twenty years with little change except the speed. But we feel that the idea of one processing unit coupled to one nearby monitor, keyboard and mouse, is very inflexible. Often you don't want a simple one-to-one mapping, and you don't want all of those components in one place.
Ndiyo is about taking the DisplayLink technology and using it to make IT more affordable and sustainable for the world.
My real research interest is in unusual user interfaces. (It's the interfaces that are unusual. Generally.) I don't find it very interesting sitting in front of a screen and keyboard. I like computers that you hang on the wall, or that you fix to your car dashboard, or that send messages to your phone. Computers that know when you're sitting in front of them, and what to do when you're not. Computers that know where you left that book you were reading. That sort of stuff...
I worked on some fun projects during the six years I spent at the (now deceased) ORL/AT&T Lab. Go on... have a look. There are some videos...!
Looking back
My Ph.D. thesis subject was Video-Augmented Environments, in which I looked at ways of using video input for the creation of novel human-computer interfaces. Video cameras cost little more now than keyboards and mice, and there are plenty of interesting things you can do with them, but at present it often isn't worth the programming effort. I built an architecture which allowed you to create simple 'triggering' circuits from basic components (sources, sinks, filters & sensors) using a scripting language.
My chief example of this was
BrightBoard, a program
which monitors whiteboards and can perform a variety of
actions when appropriate marks are made on the board. Here it is in use:
This two-minute video clip is also available as a QuickTime movie.
A paper called "BrightBoard: A Video-Augmented Environment" appeared in the Proceedings of CHI'96. It is also a EuroPARC Technical Report, or you can get it here as:
If you're really keen, my Ph.D. thesis is available as:
- Acrobat PDF format (2.4M)
- gzipped PostScript (3.5M)