Stacked User Inputs

Abstract: Multi-touch tables, iPhones, and iPads are just a few of the many devices to have embraced the mystical power of touch sensitivity. Somehow, without any physical push of a button, these devices can magically “feel” when my finger is touching them! Touch-sensitive technology is perceived to be such a recent addition in devices, that it still holds people in amazement and makes them believe they are living in a science-fiction fantasy. Is this the future for all devices though? The iPhone has proven to be such a success that it seems as though all mobile phone manufacturers are abandoning physical buttons in favor of touch-sensitive panels. This thesis aims to point out that the physicality of interfaces should not be abandoned, but combined with touch-sensitivity. The haptic feedback that I receive while pushing the keys down on my keyboard is an advantage that is quickly lost with the touch-sensitive screen of an iPhone. However, the touch-sensitive screen of an iPhone offers the ability of using natural gestures to provide input to the device, which a physical keyboard is unable to do at all. I propose that a physical interface can be combined with a touch-sensitive interface to create “Stacked User Inputs” that would combine the advantages of both interfaces, into one seamless interaction.