Making Digital Tangible: The Battle Against the Pixel Empire
數位資訊實體化：一場與像素帝國抗衡的戰役
時下人機互動的主流研究大多關注實用層面－使用者需求、實際的應用系統，與易用性評估。Tangible Bits 和 Radical Atoms 則是願景驅動的研究，並以藝術取向執行。現今社會一項技術可能一年後就過時了，一個應用系統可能十年後就遭取代。但我們相信，一個真正的願景，能持續發揮影響超過百年。
Tangible Bits 的研究目的是實現打造人、數位資訊，與實體環境之間無接縫的介面（Seamless Interfaces），為數位資訊與運算提供實體介面，讓人們可以直接操控位元（bits），也能感知其存在，無論是在前景或背景意識之下（foreground and background of our consciousness）。我們的目標是發明新的設計媒介，不但能適用於科學分析，也應用在藝術表達。Tangible Bits 的研究理念除了利用即時感知與數位回饋帶來的運算呈現外，也充分利用人類豐富的感官能力，與人們ㄧ生與實體世界互動的多樣技能。
Radical Atoms 研究所探討的層次比 Tangible Bits 更進一階。在 Radical Atoms 中，我們提出一種假想物質，能動態地改變外形與屬性，正如螢幕上的像素能即時重組一樣。Radical Atoms 是一種未來物質，它能變換形狀、符合限制，並告知使用者其預設用途（affordance）。Radical Atoms 是我們對人與物質之間互動模式（Human-Material Interacion）的未來願景：在我們的想像中，所有的數位資訊都有一個實體的表現形式，讓人們可以直接操作數位資訊。
年會演講時，我會介紹我們從 Tangible Bits 到 Radical Atoms 的設計研究歷程，以曾在媒體藝術、設計與科學社群中展出的多樣互動設計專案來說明。這些專案所強調的精神在於：要打造有吸引力與啟發性的實體互動，需要嚴謹地從科學與藝術的觀點審視。我的座右銘簡明地詮釋了這個想法：「藝術與分析思維兼具；詩意與務實眼光並存」（Be Artistic and Analytic. Be Poetic and Pragmatic.）。
Today's mainstream Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research primarily addresses functional concerns – the needs of users, practical applications, and usability evaluation. Tangible Bits and Radical Atoms are driven by vision and carried out with an artistic approach. While today's technologies will become obsolete in one year, and today's applications will be replaced in 10 years, true visions – we believe – can last longer than 100 years.
Tangible Bits seeks to realize seamless interfaces between humans, digital information, and the physical environment by giving physical form to digital information and computation, making bits directly manipulatable and perceptible both in the foreground and background of our consciousness (peripheral awareness). Our goal is to invent new design media for artistic expression as well as for scientific analysis, taking advantage of the richness of human senses and skills we develop throughout our lifetime interacting with the physical world, as well as the computational reflection enabled by real-time sensing and digital feedback.
Radical Atoms leaps beyond Tangible Bits by assuming a hypothetical generation of materials that can change form and properties dynamically, becoming as reconfigurable as pixels on a screen. Radical Atoms is the future material that can transform its shape, conform to constraints, and inform the users of their affordances. Radical Atoms is a vision for the future of Human- Material Interaction, in which all digital information has a physical manifestation, thus enabling us to interact directly with it.
I will present the trajectory of our vision-driven design research from Tangible Bits towards Radical Atoms, illustrated through a variety of interaction design projects that have been presented and exhibited in Media Arts, Design, and Science communities. These emphasize that the design for engaging and inspiring tangible interactions requires the rigor of both scientific and artistic review, encapsulated by my motto, “Be Artistic and Analytic. Be Poetic and Pragmatic.”
石井裕
MIT Media Lab, Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Arts and Sciences
Associate Director of MIT Media Laboratory 麻省理工媒體實驗室副主任
Director of Tangible Media Group 實體媒介研究小組 （Tangible Media Group）主任
石井裕教授任教於麻省理工學院媒體實驗室（MIT Media Lab）。在 1995 年 10 月加入 Media Lab 後，他成立了實體媒介研究小組（Tangible Media Group），致力於研究如何將數位世界實體化，為數位資訊與運算提供實體型態。目前人機互動學界的主流典範是圖形使用者介面（GUIs），也就是透過螢幕像素呈現資訊（「著色的位元」，Painted Bits）。而在實體媒介研究小組中，石井裕教授透過其「實體位元」（Tangible Bits，1997）與「基本原子」（Radical Atoms，2012）的願景，致力追求超越 GUI 的資訊互動方式。
一般公認石井裕教授為實體使用者介面（Tangible User Interface，TUI）研究領域的創始者，起源於他在 1997 年人機互動研討會（CHI '97）與 Brygg Ullmer 共同發表的「Tangible Bits」研究。這個研究後續也催生了從 2007 年開始舉辦的美國電腦協會實體、嵌入與具體互動研討會（ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, TEI）。在學術場合之外，Tangible Bits 分別於 2000 年在日本東京電信互動藝術中心（NTT ICC, Tokyo, Japan）， 以及 2001 至 2003 年在奧地利林茨電子藝術中心（Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria）展出，也現身在國際間許多藝術與設計展演會場上。石井裕教授也因爲他在 Tangible Bits 方面的研究成果，2001 年時獲得 MIT 的終身教職，並在 2006 年獲選為美國電腦協會人機互動研究院院士（CHI Academy）。
2012 年，石井裕教授提出了超越 Tangible Bits 的新願景「Radical Atoms」：他提出了一種假想物質，可以依據動態運算改變外形與屬性，正如 GUI 上的像素能即時重組一樣。他與團隊在 Radical Atoms 方面的研究成果，包含實體顯示物件（Shape Display）和可程式化的物質（Programmable Materials），在人機互動社群帶起「Shape-Changing UI」（意譯：可任意改變形態的實體使用者介面) 的研究新趨勢。Radical Atoms 也被奧地利電子藝術節 (Ars Electronica Festival）選為 2016 年的策展主題，並搭配副標題：「現代的鍊金術士（The Alchemists of our Time）」。石井裕教授和他的團隊在奧地利電子藝術中心佈置了以 Radical Atoms 為主題的三年常設展。
石井裕教授和他的團隊在許多學術、設計和藝術場合展示過 Tangible Bits 和 Radical Atoms，包括美國電腦協會人機互動學會（ACM SIGCHI）、美國電腦協會電腦圖學學會（ACM SIGGRAPH）、美國工業設計師協會（Industrial Design Society of America）、美國平面設計協會（AIGA）、 奧地利電子藝術中心（Ars Electronica）、日本東京電信互動藝術中心 （ICC）、法國龐畢度藝術中心（Centre Pompidou）、英國維多利亞和亞伯特博物館（Victoria and Albert Museum）、美國庫柏休伊特設計博物館（Cooper Hewitt Design Museum），以及米蘭設計週（Milan Design Week）。他們在展示 Tangible Bits 與 Radical Atoms 時所強調的想法是：要打造有吸引力與啟發性的實體互動 （tangible interactions），需要嚴謹地從科學與藝術的觀點審視。石井裕教授的座右銘簡明地詮釋了這個想法：「Be Artistic and Analytic. Be Poetic and Pragmatic.」（藝術與分析思維兼具；夢想與務實態度並存。）
2019 年，他獲得美國電腦協會人機互動學會終身研究成就獎（SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award），表彰他過去在人機互動領域重要且具有影響力的研究貢獻。
在加入 MIT Media Lab 之前，石井裕教授從 1988 年到 1994 年任職於日本電信電話公司（NTT）人機介面實驗室，負責帶領電腦輔助協同合作（CSCW）研究小組，與研究團隊研發了 TeamWorkStation（1990）和 ClearBoard（1992）。石井裕畢業於日本北海道大學，分別於 1978 年取得電機工程學士、1980 年電腦工程碩士，1992 年完成電腦工程博士學位。
IxDA 專訪文章: 可觸媒體之父 石井裕：以日本的美學詩意為基底，不斷釀造 HCI 中獨樹創見的大師
Hiroshi Ishii is the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Laboratory. After joining the Media Lab in October 1995, he founded the Tangible Media Group to make digital tangible by giving physical form to digital information and computation. Here, he pursues his visions of Tangible Bits (1997) and Radical Atoms (2012) that will transcend the Painted Bits of GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces), the current dominant paradigm of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction).
He is recognized as a founder of “Tangible User Interfaces (TUI),” a new research genre based on the CHI ’97 “Tangible Bits” paper presented with Brygg Ullmer in Atlanta, Georgia, which led to the spinoff ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI) from 2007. In addition to academic conferences, “Tangible Bits” was exhibited at the NTT ICC(2000) in Tokyo, Japan, at the Ars Electronica Center (2001-2003) in Linz, Austria, and many other international arts & design venues. For his Tangible Bits work, he was awarded tenure from MIT in 2001, and elected to the CHI Academy.
In 2012, he presented his new vision of “Radical Atoms” to leap beyond “Tangible Bits” by assuming a hypothetical generation of materials that can change form and properties dynamically and computationally, becoming as reconfigurable as pixels on a GUI screen. His team’s Radical Atoms works, including Shape Displays and Programmable Materials contributed to form the new stream of “Shape-Changing UI” research in the HCI community. His “Radical Atoms” vision was selected as the overarching theme of Ars Electronica Festival 2016, with the subtitle “The Alchemists of our Time.” Ishii’s team ran a 3 year long Radical Atoms Exhibition at the Ars Electronica Center, which has been extended to run through the summer of 2019.
Ishii and his team have presented their visions of “Tangible Bits” and “Radical Atoms” at a variety of academic, design, and artistic venues (including ACM SIGCHI, ACM SIGGRAPH ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics, Industrial Design Society of America, AIGA, Ars Electronica, ICC, Centre Pompidou, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, Milan Design Week emphasizing that the design of engaging and inspiring tangible interactions requires the rigor of both scientific and artistic review, encapsulated by his motto, “Be Artistic and Analytic. Be Poetic and Pragmatic.”
In 2019, he won the SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award for his fundamental and influential research contributions to the field of human-computer interaction in the past quarter century.
Prior to joining the MIT Media Lab, Ishii led the CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work) research group at NTT Human Interface Laboratories Japan from 1988-1994, where he and his team invented the TeamWorkStation (1990) and ClearBoard (1992). He received a B.E. degree in electronic engineering, and M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in computer engineering from Hokkaido University, Japan, in 1978, 1980 and 1992, respectively.