K-Sketch: A "Kinetic" Sketch Pad for Novice Animators
by Richard DAVIS

Abstract

Because most animation tools are complex and time-consuming to learn and use, most animations today are created by experts. To help novices create a wide range of animations quickly, we have developed a general-purpose, informal, 2D animation sketching system called K-Sketch. Field studies investigating the needs of animators and would-be animators helped us collect a library of usage scenarios for our tool. A novel optimization technique enabled us to design an interface that is simultaneously fast, simple, and powerful. The result is a pen-based system that relies on users' intuitive sense of space and time while still supporting a wide range of uses. In a laboratory experiment that compared K-Sketch to a more formal animation tool (PowerPoint), participants worked three times faster, needed half the learning time, and had significantly lower cognitive load with K-Sketch.

About the speaker

Richard DAVIS is a candidate for a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction. His research focuses on systems that help everyday computer users express and manipulate rough ideas and also on tools for building such systems. In industry, he has developed groundbreaking note-taking tools (mimio) and creative tools in many domains (Matlab/Simulink, Intel, BorisFX).

Richard earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (with a minor in Theater Arts) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995. He currently resides in Seattle and works with his research advisor James Landay at the University of Washington. More information on his current and past projects is available at http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~rcdavis.