Toward Thingy Oriented Programming: Recording Marcos With Tangibles

We introduce the concept of Thingy Oriented Programming (TOP), which is an experimental and alternative approach to prototyping simple electronics applications and systems that involve networks of sensors and actuators. TOP enables the users to define or 'program' (wirelessly) connected objects. While this approach allows powerful physical and interactive applications, no professional skills are needed since TOP-programs are defined by recording sequences of tangible interactions (i.e., interaction macros). Our primary target groups are designers who want to augment their physical prototypes with interactivity in little time, as well as end-users who are interested in enhancing specific tasks in their (smart) homes (e.g., creating a switch which turns on/off the lights by clapping twice the hands). A third target group is comprised of children and their educators in computer science and electronics. We describe the TOP concept including use scenarios, demonstrate a proof-of-concept prototype and explain our next intended steps.