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 uses a tracking system, an agent-based simulation 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 comparative usability and a validation studies of SPICE, with 30 participants. The results show that participants using SPICE completed the recipe with far less stops and in a substantially shorter time. Despite this, participants self-reported negligible change in feelings of 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：面向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实体用户界面演示，但针对日常双手任务与流程（例如烹饪）的实体用户界面研究仍显不足。为填补这一空白，我们提出了SPICE（面向烹饪增强的智能投影界面）。SPICE探究厨房环境中的实体用户界面，旨在将食谱跟随体验从纯文本式转变为实体交互式。SPICE采用追踪系统、基于代理的仿真软件及视觉大语言模型来创建并解读厨房环境，其中食谱信息被直接投影至烹饪台面。我们开展了涉及30名参与者的SPICE对比可用性研究及验证研究。结果表明，使用SPICE的参与者完成食谱时停顿次数显著减少，耗时大幅缩短。尽管如此，参与者自我报告的困难感变化微乎其微，这为未来研究指明了方向。总体而言，SPICE项目展现了利用实体用户界面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。