HCI and ChemViz

After a long hiatus, I'm back again.

Here at CSCS we are planning the development of a Molecular Structure Editor. There are so few free ones and our users ask for specific functionalities not found even in commercial ones.

But before starting we need to find funding and people, so I have time to study HCI (Human-Computer Interaction).

My plan is:

1. Use this blog to collect good/bad HCI ideas from existing Chemistry Visualization tools
2. Start from introductory HCI texts to have a foundation of the field
3. Prototype, prototype...

Visualization Tools and Games

To create more effective visualization tools, we can look to the area of video games. Here the immersion, called "playability", is of supreme importance. The gamers do not want to be distracted by peripheral interaction issues; they want to reach the game goal. They want "fluid interaction" with the tool.

This is exactly the same goal pursued by a researcher looking to an unknown structure. Think about options selection: currently the user should find a menu, find the right menu and push the right option. Instead something similar to a 3D menu widget or semi-transparent display positioned near the attention point distracts a lot less.

I collected some papers and someday I plan to explore the issue (if I can find someone that could work with me)

But...

• There are constrains from the operating systems producers that are not interested to change the status quo
• There is an uniformity issue: Exit is always under the File menu etc.
• If you want the certification sign (Win logo for example) you should follow the interface guidelines of the platform. Maya for example has circular popup menus but no Win Logo.

On the other side:

• If you use only one application you do not need uniformity.

Summarizing: it seems the eternal fight between standarization and innovation. But if you want to explore new territories, you need to do something different and look at the results.