TUI Analysis Presentation

Today I gave my TUI Analysis presentation on the Tangible Video Editor, a project of a previous TUI class at Tufts. This interface allows people to edit video using plastic tokens with small embedded computers. The goal is to combine the benefits of traditional, physical film editing with the advantages of digital, non-linear editing.

The main components of the interface are video clip-holder elements, transition elements, and a play controller. The clip-holders are contain small screens and have a "puzzle-piece" shape which makes connection obvious. The transitions use shapes which illustrate their function, with 3 transitions implemented: fade, rotate, and minimize. The play controller contains a play button and a jog wheel, and connects to a desktop PC which shows the output. The user can arrange the clips and transitions on a table, connect them in various combinations due to their puzzle-like shapes, anf play back different combinations by connecting them to the play controller.

Overall, I thought this was a neat idea. This interface does encourage group interation more than GUI software like Premiere or Final Cut, and it can create a more enjoyable editing experience. However, its functionality is severely limited compared to the software that is available today, and it would be very difficult to implement such functionality for this interface. For that reason, I can see this interface being a good fit for children and for adults who do not require advanced functionality and just want to create a simple edit. It would be a good solution for anyone who is not particularly computer literate.

An additional aspect of this interface that I liked was that the user can physically arrange the clips and transitions on the table, including preliminary and intermediate ordering and sorting. The user can immediately start to arrange the clips, and then continually re-order and refine the arrangement until the final arrangement is achieved. I think that this ability to continuously arrange and re-arrange is a huge advantage over GUI software like Premiere and Final Cut.