CS 4470: Introduction to User Interface Software &
CS 6456: Principles of User Interface Software


Fall 2008

 

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General Information:

Previous Semesters: Fall 2007 Fall 2006 Spring 2006 Fall 2004 Fall 2003 Fall 2002 Fall 2001 Fall 2000


Class Policies and Grading

How Grades Will Be Computed. Final grades will be calculated based on the following weighting scheme. It is possible that the weighting formula may be adjusted as the semester progresses. Any such changes will be announced to the class:

Undergrads
Grads
CategoryWeight
Homework 110%
Homework 210%
Homework 310%
Homework 410%
Homework 510%
Homework 610%
Midterm20%
Final Exam20%
CategoryWeight
Homework 110%
Homework 210%
Homework 310%
Project (5 milestones)50%
Midterm20%
Final ExamN/A

For final letter grades, an overall average of 90-100 will result in an A, between 80-89 a B, between 70-79 a C, between 60-69 a D.

Students taking the class pass/fail must receive a B or better to pass. Students auditing the class will not be required to complete homework or exams.

Homeworks. Details on the requirements for successfully completing the homeworks will be given in the assignment on the Web. The homework is due by 11:55PM on the announced due date. The grade for a late homework assignment will be marked down 25% for each day it is late.

The work is expected to be completed by individuals and not in collaboration with others.

Exams. Exams will be based on assigned readings, lectures, and homework.

I expect all students to show up for exams and submit homeworks in a timely manner. No make-up exams will be given without written notice of an emergency (doctor's notice if in the hospital, for example), and IN ADVANCE if possible.

Project. Graduate students in the class will be expected to complete a multi-part project during the second half of the course. The project structure will be presented in an overview lecture approximately halfway through the semester. The project consists of five separate milestones, including a project definition phase, compilation of a reading list, literature review, implementation, and demo.

Other Policies. A good portion of the learning in any upper level or graduate class comes from intelligent discussion during the class. If you don't attend class, you cannot participate, and your performance may reflect that. I expect that each student will make an effort to attend all lectures and contribute constructively to the discussion.

Students are expected to follow Georgia Tech's code of academic conduct. I am required to forward all suspected cases of academic misconduct to the Dean of Students, where they will be pursued to resolution. This is a very unpleasant process for all involved, so please do not put us in this situation.


Reading Materials

There is no required textbook for this class.

However, as we will be doing programming assignments using the Java Swing GUI toolkit, understanding the nuts and bolts of Swing programming may be useful. Thus, I'm recommending Java Swing, Second Edition (Loy, Eckstein, Wood, Elliot, and Cole; O'Reilly Press) as a good book on Swing with broad coverage of the toolkit.

If you don't want/need the book, you still may want to take a look at some of the links and documents in the Resources section of this page.

Another good book (also not required, but useful if you want to do fancy Swing stuff either in class or later on your own) is Swing Hacks (Marinacci and Adamson; O'Reilly Press). Lots of nifty tricks, plus it's written by a Tech alum. Another, more recent book in a similar vein that I haven't yet checked out in as much detail is Filthy Rich Clients by Haase and Guy.

Additional required readings for each class will be provided electronically and posted on the course syllabus. In addition, some supplemental readings will be provided. These readings will not be required but may prove useful as background material for students.


Resources, Documents, and Software


Tentative Class Schedule and Syllabus

(Please check the class schedule periodically, as it may be updated as necessary.)

Week Date Topic Materials Assignments & Readings
1 Aug
19
Introduction
  • Introductions
  • Course goals
  • Grading, policies, admininstrivia.
  • Motivation: why a class on UI software?
Slides: Introduction
Aug
21
Movie Day! Slides:
  • None
Links:
2 Aug
26
UI Software Organization
  • Separation of concerns
  • Basic UI toolkit functionality
  • Some Swing examples
Slides: UI Software Org Supplemental Readings: Assignments: Readings:
Aug
28
Continue UI Software Organization
Output: Low-Level
  • Basic devices (CRTs, LCDs)
  • Framebuffers, color palettes, and gamma correction
  • Imaging models (raster, vector, stencil-and-paint)
  • "Undrawing"
  • Drawing abstractions
  • Computer typography
Slides: Output 1 (Devices) Supplemental Readings: Readings:
3 Sept
2
Continue Output: Low-Level
  • "Undrawing"
  • Drawing abstractions
  • Computer typography
Slides:
  • Continued from previous class
Supplemental Readings:
Readings:
Sept
4
Output: Toolkits and Window Systems
  • What's a window system?
  • Toolkit responsibilities
  • Damage management
  • Layout
  • Drawing and redrawing
Slides: Output 2 (SW) Slides: Using MVC with Swing Components Supplemental Readings:
  • MVC Meets Swing (somewhat out-of-order but will be helpful in the next homework)
  • Chapter 28 (esp. Creating Your Own Component) in Java Swing
  • The ImageIcon class is the easiest way to load and display an image in Swing
Assignments:
  • Homework 1 DUE tonight at 11:55PM
  • Homework 2 out
4 Sept
9
Input: Devices
  • Keyboards
  • Buttons
  • Valuators
  • Locators
  • Input hardware
Slides: Input 1 (Devices) Supplemental Readings: Readings:
Sept
11
Input: Toolkits and Window Systems
  • Dealing with device diversity
  • Device ontologies
  • The event model as unifying abstraction
  • Implementing event systems
  • Dispatch strategies, focus, and picking
Slides: Input 2 (SW) Supplemental Readings: Readings:
5 Sept
16
Wrap up Input (SW)
  • Picking
  • Focus
Interaction Techniques
  • What's an interaction technique?
  • Design of interaction techniques
  • Affordances and feedback
  • Fitts' law
  • Case studies
  • "Beating" Fitts' law
Slides: Input 3 (Interaction Techniques) Supplemental Readings
  • Article on visualizing Fitts' Law
Sept
18
Continue Interaction Techniques
  • "Beating" Fitts' law
Implementing Interaction Techniques
  • Case study: rubber banding
  • Finite State Machines
  • Hand-coded FSMs
  • Table-driven FSMs
Slides: Implementing Interaction Techniques Assignments:
  • Homework 2 DUE tonight at 11:55PM
  • Homework 3 out
Readings:
6 Sept
23
No Class! Dean's Town Hall Meeting!
Sept
25
Damage and Layout
  • Recap of damage
  • Swing validation
  • Bottom-up versus top-down layout
  • Boxes-and-glue
  • Springs-and-struts
  • Constraints
  • One-way versus multi-way constraints
  • Implementing constraints
Slides: Damage and Layout
7 Sep
30
Continue Damage and Layout
  • Boxes-and-glue
  • Springs-and-struts
Constraints
  • Constraints as a layout solution
  • One-way versus multi-way constraints
  • Implementing constraints
Slides:
  • Continued from previous class
Supplemental Readings:
Assignments:
Oct
2
Wrap up Constraints
  • A longer example
  • Implementing constraints
Exam Preview
Assignments:
  • Homework 3 DUE tonight at 11:55PM
8 Oct
7
Midterm Exam
Oct
9
Pen Interfaces and Recognition
  • Pens for text and command input
  • Modality
  • 9-square recognizer
  • Siger recognizer
Slides: Recognizers Supplemental Readings: Readings:
9 Oct
14
No Class! GT Fall Recess!
Oct
16
Exam Review
Continue Pen Interfaces and Recognition
  • 9-square recognizer
  • Siger
Assignments:
  • Undergrads: Homework 4 out
  • Grads: Project Milestone 0 DUE Friday, 11:55PM
10 Oct
21
Pen-Based and Gesture-Based Computing
  • Natural data types
  • Pen technology
  • Pen interaction
  • Ink as data
  • Multitouch and finger gestures
Slides: Pen- and Gesture-Based Computing Supplemental Readings: Readings:
Oct
23
Animation in the Interface
  • Why animation?
  • Three principles from traditional cartoon animation: solidity, exaggeration, reinforcement
  • Animation in a toolkit
  • Example: subArctic
  • Example: Swing
Slides: Animation in the Interface Supplemental Readings: Readings:
11 Oct
28
Continue Animation in the Interface
  • Animation in a toolkit
  • Example: subArctic
  • Example: Swing
Slides:
  • Continued from previous class
Supplemental Readings:
Readings:
Oct
30
Two Handed Interaction and Magic Lenses
  • Motivation for two-handed interaction
  • Examples
  • Toolglasses and Magic Lenses
  • Examples and advantages
  • Implementing lenses
Slides: Two Handed Interaction and Magic Lenses Supplemental Readings: Assignments:
  • Undergrads: Homework 4 DUE 11:55PM
  • Undergrads: Homework 5 out
  • Grads: Project Milestone 1 DUE Friday 11:55PM
Readings:
12 Nov
4
Finish Lenses
  • Implementing lenses in Swing
Sound and Non-speech Audio
  • Basics of sound
  • Speech versus non-speech audio
  • Using audio in interfaces
  • How audio interaction is different from graphical interaction
  • Case study: Mercator
  • Audio input
Slides: Sound and Non-speech Audio
Supplemental Readings:
Readings:
Nov
6
Speech-based Interfaces
  • Low-level properties of speech
  • Challenges of speech-based interfaces
  • Features of speech
  • Menu systems versus SpeechActs
  • Case studies: Suede, PAL, Family Intercom
Slides: Speech-based Interfaces Supplemental Readings: Readings:
13 Nov
11
No class today! (Instructor out of town)
Nov
13
No class today! (Instructor out of town) Assignments:
  • Undergrads: Homework 5 DUE 11:55PM
  • Undergrads: Homework 6 out
14 Nov
18
Video in the Interface
  • Video as a natural data type
  • Properties of video
  • Capture-and-access applications
  • Capture-and-access infrastructure
  • Video recognition
Ubicomp and Physical Interaction
  • Context-aware computing
  • Context applications and infrastructure
  • Case study: intelligent rooms
  • Smart room infrastructure
  • Tangible user interfaces
  • Phidgets
Slides: Video in the Interface Supplemental Readings: Slides: Ubicomp and Physical Interaction Readings:
Nov
20
Undergrad project demos

Assignments:
  • Grads: Project Milestone 2 DUE Monday, 11/24, 11:55PM
15 Nov
25
Project demos and presentations (Project Milestone 3)

Nov
27
No Class! Thanksgiving Break!
16 Dec
2
Project demos and presentations (Project Milestone 3)

Assignments:
  • Undergrads: Homework 6 DUE 11:55PM
Dec
4
Project demos and presentations (Project Milestone 3)

Final exam Q&A session (if time)
Assignments:
  • Grads: Project Milestone 4 DUE Friday 11:55 PM
Finals Dec
12
FINAL EXAM: Friday, December 12, 8:00 - 10:50