Online Knowledge Base for Designing Shape-changing Interfaces using Modular Workshop Elements

Abstract: Building and maintaining knowledge about specific interface technologies is a challenge. Current solutions include standard file-based document repositories, wikis, and other online tools. However, these solutions are often only available in intranets, become outdated and do not support the acquisition of knowledge in an efficient manner. The effort to gain an overview and detailed knowledge about novel interface technologies can be overwhelming and requires to research and read many technical reports and scientific publications. We propose to implement open source online knowledge bases that include building blocks for creating custom workshops to understand and apply the contained knowledge. We demonstrate this concept with a knowledge base for shape-changing interfaces (SCI-KB). The SCI-KB is hosted online at GitHub and fosters collaborative creation of knowledge elements accompanied by practical exercises and workshop elements that can be combined and adapted by individuals or groups of people new to the topic of shape-changing interfaces.