Tangible Interaction

With the development of multitouch technology, touchscreen has become a dominating trend in consumer products domain. Not only does it change the user interface design dramatically, but also the physical product design. An extreme and cliche example is, of course the iphone. The screen becomes the dominant element, and everything else is just GUI.

Or...is it?

For sure it has so many advantages, but the drawbacks are obvious too. It is visually dependent, and has no tangible feedback.

When I was visiting Thomas and Lotta's home, they showed me the appliances they use. They told me that so many products today have touchscreen only(or flat flat surface without tactile cue, like the ceramic stove), so they have to pick from only a handful of choices which are old school enough to have knobs and buttons.

lotta showing stove

This guy's project is somewhat interesting, as for the richness of interaction possibility and the simplicity of the design.(just blocks...)