STRETCHING THE RUBBER SHEET (1993)

Stretching the rubber sheet: A metaphor for viewing large layouts on small screens

This research introduces the metaphor of rubber sheet stretching to view large and complex layouts within small display areas. Imagine the original 2D layout on a rubber sheet. Users can select and enlarge different areas of the sheet by holding and stretching it with a set of special tools called handles. As the user stretches an area, a greater level of detail is displayed there. The technique has a variety of desirable features such as areas that can be specified as arbitrary closed polygons; multiple regions of interest; and uniform scaling within the stretched regions.

Publications

Sarkar, M., Snibbe, S.S., Tversky, O. and Reiss, S., Stretching the rubber sheet: A metaphor for viewing large layouts on small screens. Proceedings of UIST '93, ACM SIGGRAPH, November, 1993, pp. 81-92.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Support for this research was provided by NSF grants CCR9111507 and CCR9113226, by ARPA order 8225 and by ONR grant NOO014-91-J-4052.