Ubiquitous Pixels: Transforming Collaboration and Teaching with Pervasive Wall-Sized Displays

Principal Investigator: Kevin Jeffay 
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation 
Agency Number: CNS-0303590

Abstract
Personal computing has revolutionized the way we work, acquire, process, and store information, as well as how we interact with colleagues and friends. However, the dominant paradigm of human-computer interaction in the workplace a single user sifting in front of a small display of limited resolution connected to a single computer - suffers from three significant limitations. First, the restriction of the field of view to a single, small display area is a barrier to productivity. For instance, the user has to continually cycle through different windows within the limited display area in order to view data and information that he/she would, in fact, benefit from viewing simultaneously. Frustrated users tend to view printouts by spreading them out on a desk. The small display, therefore, is a barrier to the intended use of the computer as a "desktop". Second, a widespread and serious side-effect of a small, fixed display is its unsuitability for the comfort and ergonomic health of the user. The lack of a wide range of viewing positions results in a limited opportunity to move around (and use different muscles) during the many hours spent at the workplace. Third, a conventional display system is unsuitable for use in collaborative work settings. The fact that people have to crowd around CRT displays leads collaborators to prefer to reserve and use conference rooms, leading to a reduction in impromptu discussions and meetings. In addition to small displays, collaboration is further restricted by the paradigm of coupling of displays to single machines. Current display systems that are based on this paradigm-although capable of transferring the output of a remote application onto a user's display (e.g., X Windows)-do not naturally support the vision for "carrying your work with you wherever you go". In this project, we propose to address the above limitations of conventional display systems in order to facilitate greater productivity, collaboration, and healthy work environments. We propose to experiment with a new paradigm of personal computing based on a projected wall-sized display that is decoupled from any individual computer but accessible from any computer within an organization. The projected display will employ multiple video projectors to realize a single wide field-of-view display with scalable resolution. Output from applications running on arbitrary computers can be dynamically mapped to any given display in an organization or mapped to a set of displays. This will enable a user to work effectively when away from his or her office, and to collaborate with others by sharing portions of their display in real-time over a network. A user chooses which applications currently are displayed on the output device in front of them and which are shared with other users over a network. This system will change the way we perform our day-to-day work and, in an academic setting, the way we interact with and teach students.