<s>
An	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
,	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
technique	I-Application
or	O
input	O
technique	O
is	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
and	O
software	O
elements	O
that	O
provides	O
a	O
way	O
for	O
computer	O
users	O
to	O
accomplish	O
a	O
single	O
task	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
new	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
"	O
is	O
frequently	O
used	O
to	O
introduce	O
a	O
novel	O
user	O
interface	O
design	O
idea	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
general	O
agreement	O
on	O
the	O
exact	O
meaning	O
of	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
"	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
definition	O
is	O
from	O
the	O
computer	O
graphics	O
literature	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
perspective	O
,	O
an	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
involves	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
or	O
several	O
input	B-Device
devices	I-Device
that	O
capture	O
user	O
input	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
or	O
several	O
output	B-Device
devices	I-Device
that	O
display	O
user	O
feedback	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
interprets	O
user	O
input	O
into	O
commands	B-Application
the	O
computer	O
can	O
understand	O
,	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
assumes	O
the	O
existence	O
of	O
a	O
mouse	O
(	O
input	B-Device
device	I-Device
)	O
,	O
a	O
screen	O
(	O
output	B-Device
device	I-Device
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
code	O
that	O
paints	O
a	O
menu	O
and	O
updates	O
its	O
selection	O
(	O
user	O
feedback	O
)	O
and	O
sends	O
a	O
command	O
to	O
the	O
file	O
system	O
when	O
the	O
user	O
clicks	O
on	O
the	O
"	O
delete	O
"	O
item	O
(	O
interpretation	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
perspective	O
,	O
an	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
is	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
single	O
computing	O
task	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
informally	O
expressed	O
with	O
user	O
instructions	O
or	O
usage	O
scenarios	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
user	O
interface	O
designer	O
's	O
perspective	O
,	O
an	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
is	O
a	O
well-defined	O
solution	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
user	O
interface	O
design	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
as	O
conceptual	O
ideas	O
can	O
be	O
refined	O
,	O
extended	O
,	O
modified	O
and	O
combined	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
contextual	O
menus	O
are	O
a	O
solution	O
to	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
rapidly	O
selecting	O
commands	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Marking	O
menus	O
combine	O
pie	O
menus	O
with	O
gesture	B-General_Concept
recognition	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
are	O
usually	O
characterized	O
at	O
a	O
low	O
level	O
of	O
granularity	O
—	O
not	O
necessarily	O
at	O
the	O
lowest	O
level	O
of	O
physical	O
events	O
,	O
but	O
at	O
a	O
level	O
that	O
is	O
technology-	O
,	O
platform-	O
,	O
and/or	O
implementation-dependent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
exist	O
that	O
are	O
specific	O
to	O
mobile	O
devices	O
,	O
touch-based	O
displays	O
,	O
traditional	O
mouse/keyboard	O
inputs	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
paradigms	O
—	O
in	O
other	O
words	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
dependent	O
on	O
a	O
specific	O
technology	O
or	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
are	O
the	O
glue	O
between	O
physical	O
I/O	O
devices	O
and	O
interaction	O
tasks	O
or	O
domain	O
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Different	O
types	O
of	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
map	O
a	O
specific	O
device	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
domain	O
object	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
different	O
gesture	B-Application
alphabets	I-Application
exist	O
for	O
pen-based	O
text	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
,	O
the	O
less	O
compatible	O
the	O
device	O
is	O
with	O
the	O
domain	O
object	O
,	O
the	O
more	O
complex	O
the	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
mouse	O
to	O
specify	O
a	O
2D	O
point	O
involves	O
a	O
trivial	O
interaction	B-Application
technique	I-Application
,	O
whereas	O
using	O
a	O
mouse	O
to	O
rotate	O
a	O
3D	O
object	O
requires	O
more	O
creativity	O
to	O
design	O
the	O
technique	O
and	O
more	O
lines	O
of	O
code	O
to	O
implement	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
current	O
trend	O
is	O
to	O
avoid	O
complex	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
by	O
matching	O
physical	O
devices	O
with	O
the	O
task	O
as	O
close	O
as	O
possible	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
exemplified	O
by	O
the	O
field	O
of	O
tangible	O
computing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
that	O
share	O
the	O
same	O
metaphor	B-Architecture
or	O
design	O
principles	O
can	O
be	O
seen	O
as	O
belonging	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
General	O
examples	O
are	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
and	O
direct	O
manipulation	O
user	O
interfaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
are	O
typically	O
technology-	O
,	O
platform-	O
,	O
and/or	O
implementation-dependent	O
(	O
see	O
#level	O
of	O
granularity	O
above	O
)	O
,	O
human-computer	O
or	O
human-information	O
interactions	O
can	O
be	O
characterized	O
at	O
higher	O
levels	O
of	O
abstraction	O
that	O
are	O
independent	O
of	O
particular	O
technologies	O
and	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
any	O
single	O
interaction	O
pattern	O
may	O
be	O
instantiated	O
by	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
,	O
on	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
technologies	O
and	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
essentially	O
involve	O
data	O
entry	O
and	O
manipulation	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
place	O
greater	O
emphasis	O
on	O
input	O
than	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
studied	O
in	O
the	O
field	O
of	O
information	B-Application
visualization	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
large	O
part	O
of	O
research	O
in	O
human-computer	O
interaction	O
involves	O
exploring	O
easier-to-learn	O
or	O
more	O
efficient	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
for	O
common	O
computing	O
tasks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
inventing	O
new	O
(	O
post-WIMP	B-Application
)	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
,	O
possibly	O
relying	O
on	O
methods	O
from	O
user	O
interface	O
design	O
,	O
and	O
assessing	O
their	O
efficiency	O
with	O
respect	O
to	O
existing	O
techniques	O
using	O
methods	O
from	O
experimental	O
psychology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
research	O
focuses	O
on	O
the	O
specification	O
of	O
interaction	B-Application
techniques	I-Application
,	O
sometimes	O
using	O
formalisms	O
such	O
as	O
Petri	B-Operating_System
nets	I-Operating_System
for	O
the	O
purposes	O
of	O
formal	O
verification	O
.	O
</s>
