GUI, NUI, and CUE

I agree that we're approaching a revolution in the design of the GUI ("Good-Bye, GUI -- Hello, NUI," July). What it is and where it needs to go are being redefined, beyond the desktop metaphor. You used the term network user interface , or NUI, for the new interfaces that are emerging. I would say, however, that even the term interface needs to evolve. Think of the term environment . People construct environments all around them in the physical world. Why not carry it into the virtual world? The other term, network , seems more about the technology -- the pipe -- than about what's really occurring there, which is collaboration. The network is the next level of pipe that we can collaborate in.

I propose that a more appropriate term would be collaborative user environment , or CUE. The next step, of co urse, is defining the optimum for such an environment.

Rich Kilmer
Roku Technologies
Chantilly, VA
rich@rokutech.com

I was pleased to see your article on NUIs. You cover commercial desktop ideas, which is appropriate, but I think your readers might also be interested in more advanced research ideas. You might want to look into our work on Elastic Windows, which support multiple window operations in a way that enables more effective screen management. For more information, check out http://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/hcil/Research/1996/elastic-windows.html . The text of several papers plus images are available there.

Ben Shneiderman
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory
U niversity of Maryland, College Park
ben@cs.umd.edu