Fostering Peripheral Information Awareness through Personalized, Expressive Art

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Fostering Peripheral Information Awareness through Personalized Expressive Art This is a standard award. In today's information-rich society, people who are busy and deeply engaged in work or other activities often are unable to maintain awareness of peripheral, but useful, information such as weather, traffic, and financial news. In this project the PI will explore the concept of Information Art, the process of promoting awareness of peripheral information through personalized, expressive art. This new form of information access and presentation system combines elements of both ambient displays and information visualizations. Information Art allows people to identify information of interest and then to design a customized, aesthetically-pleasing representation of that information. The primary goal of the project is to explore techniques for calmly communicating information without interrupting a person's concentration and without robbing space from his/her desktop displays. As people gain access to more and more information, it is crucial to develop techniques and tools that aid them in managing and utilizing that information. Many computer technologies only seem to exacerbate the situation, however, by contributing more (often unwanted) information. This project will create techniques and tools that will empower people to choose information of interest to them, and to represent and communicate this information in a manner that is personally meaningful and pleasing. An even broader impact of the project will be to explore the space of new, pervasive information displays and understand their place in future work and home environments.