The latest issue of the Communications of the ACM focuses on “Organic User Interfaces,” and includes a short article we wrote about various display technologies. The term “organic” in this context refers, not to chemical composition, but to the physical flexibility and non-planarity of form that are becoming achievable for computational devices. As devices become less rigid and regular, our interactions with them can become so as well.

Having personally sewn hard, rectangular PCBs into hidden pockets to simulate flexible electronics, as well as worn a rigid (and heavy) LCD on my back for another research project, it’s very cool to see so much focus, design and technology-wise, on materiality.

There’s a website organized around this issue, with online versions of all the articles plus additional links and a blog, at organicui.org