Physical interaction and multi-aspect representation for information intensive environments

Embedded technology and networking allow for the integration of physical objects with information infrastructure and augmentation of the physical environment with information and computing functions. The concept of intelligent artifacts associated with robots will be restructured to many different forms of intelligent and interactive artifacts and environments that range from simple objects with a tagging chip to complex physical systems with local intelligence and actuators connected to a large-scale information infrastructure. This opens a new problem space of interactive systems design: how to control remotely connected objects, how to interact with intelligent environments, and how to combine physical and media entities. This paper explores the issues of interactivity in physical space and media space, models of physical interaction, system architecture and the design methodology from the viewpoint of human-centered system design.