Foundations for distributing the interaction: facilitating universal access through Responsive Cross-Device Applications

摘要

The emergence of the Internet of Things has created the prospect of a future in which devices can always be connected. There is a trend for information to be available to anyone, anywhere and anytime. Moreover, current scenarios are full of interconnected devices with their own interactive capabilities. The problem of orchestrating these capabilities in multi-device environments is complex and remains unsolved. However, providing universal access is not only a question of devices being connected or sharing information. To get a better understanding of how to distribute interaction in Web applications, we developed new theoretical and practical proposals. Also, we perform case studies through the supporting tools developed as prototypes. On this article, we present two major contributions. First, we present the foundations of Responsive Cross-Device Applications. This approach is aimed at supporting user tasks in cross-device environments, adapting interaction to facilitate user task completion. Secondly, we provide the answer for the following research questions: (1) What do we mean by Distributed Interaction? (2) How do current approaches deal with the distribution of the interaction? (3) What is the best platform for distributing the interaction? and (4) Does the distribution of the interaction facilitate universal access? Finally, we discuss the outcomes of this article in view of these research questions.