Time Machine Computing for Media Improvisation
C3LOOPS is an application for DJs and VJs based on surface interaction. A system is said to be based on surface interaction if it presents content on a two dimensional, endless surface that a user navigates through zoom, pan and incremental text filtering where processing is tightly coupled with the content without breaking the workflow. C3LOOPS is designed to encourage improvisation and collaboration. During improvisation changes occur rapidly. Allowing navigation through time as well as the two spatial dimensions of an interaction surface the possibility of unlimited undo operations opens up. Time navigation enables a user to go back to any prior state and easily examine a state or revert to a state. This thesis explores two ways of designing an interface for time navigation on top of the surface interaction paradigm, both a timeline and a circular approach. Through design and user testing these are evaluated to examine their relative usability as well as which one is perceived to be ?cooler?. Certain lessons are learned by testing such an interface on paper, including the difficulty of simulating surface interaction. The implementation of the idea involves the creation of a replacement database for the C3LOOPS-application; as well as the modification of existing code to add support for multiple surfaces and the ability to interact with them separately. The new surface represents navigation through time. The result of the thesis is the implementation of a timeline as well as the required functionality to support it.