In the past 50 years computers have infiltrated the work environment to the point where there’s hardly a job left where they are not used. In the process, however, a rich continuum of understanding the world through sound, touch, spatial interactions has been flattened to pictures behind glass that are either manipulated through mice or touch interactions. New technical developments such as augmented reality and spatial computing offer the opportunity to rethink how we can incorporate our body in knowledge work. To do this successfully we have to let go of design concepts that have been developed for a world of flat screens and start over with designing for digital spatial interactions. Building on the work of Paul Dourish on embodied interaction design and David Kirsh on the use of space for cognitively demanding tasks I discuss a framework for thinking about and designing for spatial interactions.

1. Sjors Timmer
Senior UX designer, Designit
@sjors
Space as a medium
for interaction design

2. @sjors
One goal: the computer disappears into the
environment
—Alan Kay
Creative think seminar (1982)
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Creative_Think.txt

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Why?
How?
Fragments of the future
A workshop of tomorrow

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Thinking with space

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Offload memory

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Offload memory Offload cognition

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How to program yourself with objects in the
environment

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9. @sjors

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How we manage the spatial arrangement of
items around us, is an integral part of the way
we think, plan and behave.
–David Kirsh
The intelligent use of space

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Storage
Preparation
Action

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Paul Seller

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What to do

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How to do it

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This is dynamic

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Experts use objects to create little spatial
programs. This enables them to work
habitually, lessening the need for constant
reflection.

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Space, people and
computers

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Space is still a metaphor:
- Complex layering of spatial metaphors
- Lack of tactile feedback
- Ignores our body and the space around
us

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We can make interactions easier
by building interfaces that exploit
our skills for physical interaction
with objects.

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Workshops are the future of computing

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Business Origami
Photos by @JessMcMullin
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessmcmullin/albums/72157622551213134

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1. Start with the physical world

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2. Design for action
We act in the world by exploring
the opportunities for action that it
provides us.
—Paul Dourish

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3. Design for collaboration

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Pool Live Aid
4. Design for exploration

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By redesigning computing to be spatial we can
reawaken our spatial perception, physical and
social skills that are currently lying dormant.

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Fragments of the
future

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How might computing disappear in the
environment?

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Amazon Go

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A computer the size of a room/
a room the size of a computer
Amazon Go

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Hololamp

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RoomE

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Interactive light

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AR Sandbox

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MIT City I/O

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Dynamic land
dynamicland.org (2017)
Dynamicland

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Dynamic land

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Every scrap of paper has the capabilities of a
computer, while remaining a fully-functional
scrap of paper.
—Dynamicland

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A workshop of
tomorrow

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The facilitation of dynamic exploration

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Artefacts for representation

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Preparing the workshop

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Action

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Action

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1. We can use objects to think with
2. Workshops are the best inspiration for the
future of computing
3. Fragments of the future can already be
found among us

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The most profound technologies are those that
disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric
of the everyday until they are indistinguishable
from it.
—Mark Weiser
The Computer for the 21st Century (1999)

49. Thank you!
Sjors Timmer
@sjors