I must admit that my thoughts while I was reading Fishkin’s taxonomy align with those of Leah. I’m trying to understand the nature of the input event, the sophistication of the processing of the input signal, and the complexity of the output event (probably this comes to mind because I’m continuously thinking about the midterm project. What would qualify as a TUI for this class? Could it be as simple as a greeting card or should it be as complex as a topobo?). One of the examples provided is the ‘‘Platypus Amoeba’’ which responds to touching and petting, what would happen if we change this input for only pressing a “On/off” switch? The embodiment would not change, it will be still full because the output device is the input device, but maybe the metaphor would change from noun and verb to none? Then, is this second dimension capturing in some way the complexity of the system?

Additionally, (and as Leah mentions) if the input of the system is merely gestures from a user (that, for example, will be sensed through a Kinect) that will control the output of a screen or projection, will this system be considered as a TUI or simply a UI? The reading mentions the Graspable Display, in which the ‘‘push away’’ gesture maps to ‘‘reduce text point size’’, would this be the equivalent to what I am asking?

Finally, I am just wondering about what a user interface is? Are we assuming that a computational system must be part of it? If that is the case, how would we classify a door knob for example?