Tangible Interfaces References
Contents
This is a semi-coherent list interesting or useful references found during research.
Tangible Product Inspiration
- scottbez1/smartknob: Haptic input knob with software-defined endstops and virtual detents
- Detent Polymagnet pair - 12 position (30 degree) - #6 CTSK - 1” D-shape
- MaTouch ESP32-S3 RotaryIPS-Display1.28” GC9A01
- T-Encoder Pro [US]
- Love My Switches – Knobs
- UrbanCircles/igor on GitHub
- MaTouch SmartKnob (Assembled)
- Getting Familiar With Round Displays (Hackaday)
- Unusual Round Displays and How to Use Them
- Focus Dial: A Digital Distraction Blocker (Instructables)
- Ring Rotary Encoder
- T-Track Knobs & Bolts
- ANO Directional Navigation and Scroll Wheel Rotary Encoder
- AnySkin: Plug-and-play Skin Sensing for Robotic Touch
- Connect old school joystick to Arduino
- Gliss: Modular Synth Touch Control
- Tembo – A New Musical Instrument for Playful Music Making
- Herzlich Labs MAXIMA Touch Controller First Play
- MMI Node - 0hp / 1U - Touch controller
- GB Remote Lite - Open Source VESC remote
- Consumer Devices – Ambient Devices
- VICINO by MCQN Ltd on Tindie
- ESPConnect: Manage your ESP32 from your browser
- ESPConnect Demo (YouTube)
- knobless computer numpad with big knob and slide modules
- Nubia Focus 2 Ultra’s rotating camera ring makes you feel like a pro photographer
- “Knob Feel” Rating stereo knobs just the knobs
- iPod click wheel button hardware design
- Vintage phone design examples
- How did the PONG game work before software existed? Genius level work
- How the 80’s Nintendo Duck Hunt light gun worked - The Slow Mo Guys
Fidget Toys
- Fidgets on Printables.com
- Fidgets on Printables.com – Contest
- Fidgets on Cults3d.com
- Fidgets on Thingiverse.com
- Fidgets on Thangs.com
- Fidgets on Makerworld.com
- Fidget Cock n Pull (Makerworld)
- Darshan Patel on Instagram: “7 Satisfying 3D-Printed Fidget Toys You’ve Never Seen!
- Fidgets on YouTube
- Fidgets on YouTube 2
- Snappy Switch Keychain
- Magnet flipper / Super Swivel Fidgets
Books
(In no particluar order)
Design & Interaction
- Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge (2006)
- Designing the Internet of Things by Adrian McEwen, Hakim Cassimally (2013)
- A Touch of Code: Interactive Installations and Experiences by Robert Klanten, Sven Ehmann, Verena Hanschke (2011)
- Understanding Industrial Design: Principles for UX and Interaction Design by Simon King, Kuen Chang (2016)
- Tactics of Interfacing: Encoding Affect in Art and Technology by Ksenia Fedorova (2020)
- Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices by Dan Saffer (2009)
- How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us by John Maeda (2019)
- Prototyping for Designers by Kathryn McElroy (O’Reilly)
- Designing for Emerging Technologies ed. Jonathan Follett (2014)
- The Handbook of Human-Machine Interaction ed. Guy A. Boy (2011)
- User Interface Design of Electronic Appliances Konrad Baumann and Bruce Thomas (2002)
- Enchanted objects : Design, Human desire, and the internet of things David Rose (2014)
UX Design
- The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman, 2013 (Revised and Expanded Edition)
- Don’t Make Me Think, A Common Sense Approach to Web (and Mobile) Usability by Steve Krug, 2014
- Validating Product Ideas Through Lean User Research by Tomer Sharon, 2016
- Web Form Design by Luke Wroblewski, 2008
- Game Feel: A Game Designer’s Guide to Virtual Sensation by Steve Swink, 2008
Physical Computing & Electronics
- Tangible User Interfaces: Past, Present and Future Directions by Orit Shaer and Eva Hornecker, 2010
- Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical by Tom Igoe and Dan O’Sullivan, 2004
- Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design by Mike Kuniavsky, 2010
- Haptic Interaction Design for Everyday Interfaces by Karon E MacLean, 2008
- Playful Wearables by Oğuz Buruk, Ella Dagan, Katherine Isbister, Elena Márquez Segura and Theresa Jean Tanenbaum, 2024
- Making Things Talk: Using Sensors, Networks, and Arduino by Tom Igoe (2011)
- When Things Start to Think by Neil Gershenfeld (1999)
- Make: Electronics (Learning by Discovery) by Charles Platt (2008, 3rd ed. 2021)
- Programming Interactivity: A Designer’s Guide to Processing, Arduino, and OpenFrameworks by Joshua Noble (2009)
- Getting Started with Arduino by Massimo Banzi (2008)
- Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest M. Mims III (1983)
- Electronic Sensor Circuits & Projects by Forrest M. Mims III
- Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking by Nicolas Collins
- Make: More Electronics by Charles Platt (2009)
- Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 1 by Charles Platt (2012)
- Practical Electronics for Inventors by Paul Scherz, Simon Monk (2016, 4th edition)
- Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop by Neil Gershenfeld
Book Lists
Essays & Articles
- The Most Satisfying Checkbox
- 3 Kinds of Simplicity (UX Matters)
- Usability of Coffee
- Haptic UX — The Design Guide for Building Touch Experiences by Justin Baker, 2019
- The Parallel Journey of Physical Product Design and UX/UI Design
- What is User Experience (UX) Design?
- The power of Physical User Experience Design (PUXD)
- Breaking Down the UX of Everyday Things: Lessons from Physical Product Design
- The Tactile Side of UX: Designing for Physical Interfaces and Tangible User Experiences
- Let’s Get Physical
- Designing for Both Physical and Digital User Experiences
- The hardware interaction designer: an overlooked role
- Tactile Controls In A Digital World
- Explaining the Internet of Things
- Teaching Emerging Technologies to UX Designers
TEI Cited Papers
- Tangible Bits (most cited paper in ACM) — ACM link
- Tangible interaction = form + computing
- Radical Clashes
- Beyond distributed representation: embodied cognition design supporting socio-sensorimotor couplings
- Turning Back to Planet Earth: Defining the Aesthetics of a New Sustainable High-Tech
- Texturing the “material turn” in interaction design
- Seven Principles to Design for Embodied Sensemaking
- Are tangibles more fun?: comparing children’s enjoyment and engagement using physical, graphical and tangible user interfaces
- Reactable
- reacTIVision: a computer-vision framework for table-based tangible interaction
- Web-based PCB layout from JacDac
Design Process
There are LOTS of diagrams to convey some intangible ideas and best practices of design.
- UX Design Processes
- figma Design-Process—Double-Diamond
- The Double Diamond (Design Council)
- The Design Squiggle
Accessibility & Inclusive Design
- Microsoft’s Inclusive Design Principles
- W3C: Designing for accessibility
- Detailed criteria: W3C’s WCAG 2.2 (quick reference)
- Focus management: Microsoft – A11y - Focus Order
- Text resizing plugin: Text Resizer - Accessibility Checker
Figma Plugins for Accessibility
- Color contrast & vision simulator: Stark – Contrast & Accessibility Checker
- Accessibility annotation: Introduction to design annotation
- Duque Systems – axe for Designers: A Free Accessibility Plugin
- eBay – Include—Accessibility Annotations
- Indeed – A11y Annotation Kit
- Intopia – accessibility annotation kit
Physical / Digital Prototyping Tools
Circuit Diagram Software
Conferences
- Sketching in Hardware conference
- TEI – ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction
Organizations
- Open Hardware Association
- Fab Foundation — global Fab Lab network
- MIT Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA)
- CBA GitLab
- Devices Lab, Lancaster University — Microbit-based work: Classroom Cloudlet: a mobile, tangible, and transparent approach to Internet of Things education; MakeDevice: Evolving Devices Beyond the Prototype with Jacdac
Interesting Designers & Makers
- George Cave / Interaction Magic and github
- Keemate Studio
- FredsCave – Micro:bit Modules
- ThingM
- MCQN Ltd (Wrote Designing the Internet of Things)
College Programs
- NYU ITP Physical Computing
- Pratt Institute Interactive Arts (Digital Arts MFA)
- Carnegie Mellon University - IDeATe Physical Computing Minor
- Parsons School of Design – BFA Design & Technology
- NY School of Visual Arts – MFA Interaction Design
- MIT Physical Computing for Artists
- ArtCenter College of Design – Interaction Design BS
- University of Washington – Interactive Design Program
- Stanford University (d.school) – Product Design
- Potsdam Interaction Design Lab
- Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation – UC Berkeley