Direct Manipulation of User Interfaces for Migration

Molina Massó, José Pascual Vanderdonckt, Jean [UCL] Gonzales, Pascual

From a topological model of a working environment, MIGRIXML automatically generates a virtual reality environment for controlling the run-time migration of a graphical user interface from one computing platform to another one (e.g., from a desktop to a pocket computer), from one interaction surface to another (e.g., from a laptop to a wall screen) at run-time. For this purpose, any user interface subject to migration is described in USer Interface eXtensible Markup Language regarding its look & feel as well as the platforms and the surfaces involved in the migration. Each interface, in part or in whole, can be attached to a platform or a surface, detached from it, and migrated across platforms or interaction surfaces. Instead of communicating data and code during the migration, the description of the user interface of concern is wirelessly passed from one platform to another one to be regenerated on the target platform. To ensure a continuous control of the run-time migration, MIGRIXML automatically generates a world model representing the context of use where the source/target platforms/interaction surfaces are represented. Finally, migrating a user interface becomes as natural as its direct manipulation from one platform to another exactly in the same way as it is done on a single platform.