Keynote address: Programming reality: From 3D UI to physical computing

Summary form only given. 3D user interfaces were motivated by the desire to make interaction with virtual content resemble the interaction with real, physical environments, to take advantage of natural spatial skills that we develop by living in the physical 3D world. As the work on 3D UIs and virtual reality progressed, the pure simulation aspect of 3D UI has been enhanced with the view of 3D UI as a separate medium where impossible was possible and the limitations of physical environment do not apply. Recently, with the advances in semiconductors, new materials and manufacturing techniques, the line between real and virtual has been rapidly blurring. As we are gaining more computational control over the physical world, our natural interactions with reality will be increasingly mediated by the computation. Therefore, principles, ideas and metaphors that we invented for 3D user interfaces could inform us how the interaction with future physical environments could be designed. In this talk I will discuss recent advances and ideas for designing interfaces for future living spaces where computation and physical world are increasingly merged and what it means for research in 3D user interfaces.