Paper Reading # 2: Hands-On Math: A page-based multi-touch and pen desktop for technical work and problem solving

Reference Information: Hands-On Math: A page-based multi-touch and pen desktop for technical work and problem solving by Robert Zeleznik, Andrew Bragdon, Ferdi Adeputra, and Hsu-Sheng Ko.
UIST 2010 New York, New York. 

Author Bios: After receiving both his Bachelor's and Master's in Computer Science (both from Brown University), Robert Zeleznik became a research director at Brown University.

Andrew Bragdon also completed his Bachelor's and Master's in Computer Science (as well as a Bachelor's in Economics) at Brown. He is now a PhD student at Brown.

Ferdi Adeputra is an analyst for Goldman Sachs. He is studying Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at Brown.

Hsu-Sheng Ko is a researcher at Brown University.

Summary

• Hypothesis: Learning and working with math will become more efficient with the use of CAS tools in an environment very similar to that of pen and paper.
• Methods: The authors of this work put participants (9 undergraduate students) through trial runs of the Hands-On Math system. The goal was to discover the right direction to head in development, so they explored many functions including page manipulation, multi-step derivation, graphing, and web clipping. Widgets, gesture recognition, and palm detection were also tested. 
• Results: The nine participants had mixed reviews on some of the features, such as paper folding and TAP (touch-activated pen) gestures. However, they also expressed an overall positive outlook on the potential of the Hands-On Math system.
• Contents: The majority of this paper details the aspects of the Hands-On Math system, followed by the pilot evaluation conducted by the authors. At the time, the system could not handle anything beyond high school math. Folding in the system, unlike actual paper, serves to create more space on the same page. As for gestures, there are the under-the-rock menus and TAP gestures. An example of an under-the-rock menu would be a trash icon appearing after dragging away a page. PalmPrints was created for this system to allow access to specific commands that are activated with the palm (shown below).

Discussion
I would have to concur with the consensus of the participants that there is great potential for this system. With that said, it seems that the goals of the authors were met. However, I think that the number of participants could have been much more. It was expressed that several directions were to be tested in order to better develop the system, but the lacking size of participants contributes to my doubts in the accuracy of their initial evaluation. Still, a fully functional version would have a great impact with both students and professionals who work heavily with math. It may be possible to adapt such a system to aid programmers. I know there are those who prefer writing out pseudo-code on paper, so it will be useful if pseudo-code jotted down on the writing pad could be converted, at least partially, to actual computer language using the built-in SDK's. From there, the converted code can be uploaded onto a computer where the programmer can fill in any gaps. This would also hopefully keep handwriting from degrading too much.

On a side note, the issues with physical dexterity reminded me of the cumbersome control schemes RTS beginners employ. Eventually, they find out about hotkeys.