SWEETPEA: Software Tools for Programmable Embodied Agents

Programmable Embodied Agents are portable, wireless, interactive devices embodying specific, differentiable, interactive characteristics. They take the form of identifiable characters who reside in the physical world and interact directly with users. They can act as an out-of-band communication channel between users, as proxies for system components or other users, or in a variety of other roles. Traditionally, research into such devices has been based on costly custom hardware. In this paper, we report on our explorations of the space of physical character-based interfaces built on recently available stock consumer hardware platforms, structured around an initial framework of applications. Keywords Interaction hardware, tangible media, augmented reality, ActiMates Barney, Mattel Talk-With-Me Barbie.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1999
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Michael Kaminsky, Paul Dourish, W. Keith Edwards, Anthony LaMarca, Michael Salisbury, Ian E. Smith
• Keywords: CHI 1999, Costly Custom Hardware, Human Computer Interaction, Out-of-band Communication Channel, Programmable Embodied Agents