Taking Handheld Devices to the Next Level
From: Computer - 12/2004 - Vol. 37, No. 12, P. 36
By: Brad A. Myers, Jeffrey Nichols, and Jacob O. Wobbrock

A team of MIT and Carnegie Mellon University researchers are designing
next-generation handhelds and applications that can be employed as more
effective and easier-to-use remote controls under the auspices of the Pebbles
project. For the household, the researchers have built a personal universal
controller (PUC) that controls all computerized appliances by providing
appliance-specific control interfaces. A PUC can establish consistency
between multiple interfaces, tailor interfaces to the user's needs or
preferences, furnish platform-specific interfaces, and combine the functions
of multiple appliances. Human trials with the PUC inspired the development of
an XML-based high-level specification language that encapsulates all the data
the controller needs to automatically generate interfaces, while appliance
control is facilitated by software and hardware modules that act as appliance
adapters. Among the handheld applications the team developed is Remote
Commander, which supports all PC keyboard and mouse functions and displays
screen images on the handheld in three distinct modes; SlideShow Commander,
which can control a PC running PowerPoint; and Shortcutter, a general-purpose
application that allows users to build custom panels to control PC
applications. These applications have been employed in initiatives that
include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Command Post of the
Future project, and have demonstrated particular value to disabled users. The
Pebbles project has produced important design insights, including the need
for designers to consider context of use, as well as which interface
components should reside on the handheld and which should reside on the
original device. 

http://www.computer.org/computer/homepage/1204/myers/index.htm

Links:
The Pittsburgh Pebbles PDA Project
http://www.pebbles.hcii.cmu.edu/

Pebbles Project connects PDAs up Smartly
http://www.usabilitynews.com/news/article815.asp

Software download
http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&homePath=HANDANGO&platformId=2&productType=2&productId=3082&sectionId=1449&catalog=30

Update on The Pebbles Project:Using a Handheld as a Personal Universal
Controller and to Augment a Laser Pointer in Meeting
http://murl.microsoft.com/LectureDetails.asp?783

Handhelds as Assistive Technologies for People with Muscular Disabilities
http://www.necfoundation.org/grants/grants_show.htm?doc_id=165208

PDAControls.com - Pebbles Software
http://www.pdacontrols.com/

PebblesPC v6.1
http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/pebblespc.shtml
