Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) for human--computer interaction (HCI) provide the user with physical representations of digital information with the aim to overcome the limitations of screen-based interfaces. Although many compelling demonstrations of TUIs exist in the literature, there is a lack of research on TUIs intended for daily two-handed tasks and processes, such as cooking. In response to this gap, we propose SPICE (Smart Projection Interface for Cooking Enhancement). SPICE investigates TUIs in a kitchen setting, aiming to transform the recipe following experience from simply text-based to tangibly interactive. SPICE includes a tracking system, an agent-based software, and vision large language models to create and interpret a kitchen environment where recipe information is projected directly onto the cooking surface. We conducted a comparative usability study of SPICE and text-based recipe following with 30 participants, assessing the task difficulty, total duration, and efficiency, as well as user confidence and taste perception. The results indicate that SPICE allowed participants to perform the recipe with less stops and in shorter time while also improving self-reported efficiency, confidence, and taste. Despite this, participants self-reported no change in overall difficulty, which is a direction for future research. Overall, the SPICE project demonstrates the potential of using TUIs to improve everyday activities, paving the way for future research in HCI and new computing interfaces.

翻译：用于人机交互的实体用户界面通过提供数字信息的物理表征，旨在克服基于屏幕界面的局限性。尽管文献中存在许多引人注目的TUI演示，但针对日常双手任务和过程（如烹饪）的TUI研究仍显不足。为填补这一空白，我们提出了SPICE（用于烹饪增强的智能投影界面）。SPICE探究了厨房环境中的TUI，旨在将食谱跟随体验从纯文本式转变为实体交互式。SPICE包含追踪系统、基于代理的软件以及视觉大语言模型，以创建并解读一个将食谱信息直接投射到烹饪台面的厨房环境。我们开展了一项涉及30名参与者的SPICE与文本式食谱跟随的对比可用性研究，评估了任务难度、总耗时、效率以及用户信心与味觉感知。结果表明，SPICE使参与者能以更少停顿和更短时间完成食谱，同时提升了自我报告的效率、信心和味觉体验。尽管如此，参与者自我报告的整体难度未发生变化，这为未来研究指明了方向。总体而言，SPICE项目展示了利用TUI改善日常活动的潜力，为人机交互及新型计算界面的未来研究铺平了道路。