AwareKit: Exploring a Tangible Interaction Paradigm for Digital Calendars

Digital calendars are a conventional tool for planning meetings and providing information about the availability of others. In this paper, we explore an alternative tangible way of interaction with existing electronic calendaring systems. Our prototype, called AwareKit, is a tangible toolkit aimed at supplementing existing electronic calendar systems and exploits quick, fun and playful interaction. It integrates an attractive design and utilizes touch and rotation as interaction techniques to access different types of information. In this paper, we outline the design concept of AwareKit, its hardware implementation and the first usability feedback. The results of the pilot usability study showed that AwareKit is easy to use and facilitates intuitive and playful interaction.