Demos and Posters TEI 2016, February 14-17, 2016, Eindhoven, the Netherlands Sparse Tangibles: Collaborative Exploration of Gene Networks using Active Tangibles and Interactive Tabletops Ahmed Sabbir Arif1, Roozbeh Manshaei1, Sean Delong1, Brien East1, Matthew Kyan3, Ali Mazalek1,2 Synaesthetic Media Laboratory Electrical Engineering & Computer Science3 Ryerson University1 Georgia Institute of York University Toronto, Ontario Technology2 Toronto, Ontario Canada Atlanta, GA, USA Canada {asariF, roozbeh.manshaei, sean.delong, beast, mazalek}@ryerson.ca,
[email protected] ABSTRACT fail to work with big data sets or fail to provide the support We present Sparse Tangibles, a tabletop and active tangible- for custom query construction. Most of these solutions are based framework to support cross-platForm, collaborative also system-dependent (that is, do not work with all gene network exploration using a Web interFace. It uses operating systems), require the installation of proprietary smartwatches as active tangibles to allow query construction soFtware, or demand high processing power. Furthermore, on- and oFF-the-table. We expand their interaction vocabulary almost all present solutions are desktop-based, which using inertial sensors and a custom case. We also introduce hinders collaborative exploration and generally limits the a new metric for measuring the “conFidence level” of protein users to smaller screens. and genetic interactions. Three expert biologists evaluated the system and Found it fun, useFul, easy to use, and ideal for We Formed an interdisciplinary team oF six to address these collaborative explorations. issues. Apart From two HCI researchers and an engineer, the group consists oF three expert biomedical/signal processing Author Keywords engineers, whom we identiFy as potential users oF the Systems biology; biomedical engineering; sparse network; system.