/// Zwitch - 1st prize in the Microsoft "Tablet-PC
/// Student Challenge" 2004

The Zwitch homepage can be viewed here.
An HTML tutorial explaining the software's underlying concepts and main functions can be viewed here.

Please note that the tutorial refers to the original version of Zwitch developed for the competition. The CeBIT 2005 version is described on this page.

"Zwitch" was designed and developed by Lena Brenk, Andreas Strothmann, Marcel Schwalb and Jörg Hillesheim. Initially the application was developed within the scope of a competition by Microsoft in Germany 2004 called „Tablet-PC Student Challenge“. It was awarded 1st prize. The software was presented at CeBIT 2005 at Microsoft Mobile Productivity Booth by this team.

The task was to design a Tablet-PC program for mobile data acquisition in facility management. This can mean taking note of damage to a building or new installations (e.g. pipes, wires etc.) as well as day-to-day management of the building.
Although Zwitch was designed for this purpose, it easily translates to a wide variety of uses. It enables data acquisition, management as well as creating complex work situations requiring several different applications running at the same time.

The image called “Zwitch” shows Zwitch's main elements: "Zwitch" itself, nodes and connections between nodes. "Zwitch" is composed of five clickable elements, four on the outer ring, one in the center. Each node consists of three different clickable areas. The purpose of these key interaction elements is explained in the following sections.


Ztudio

"Ztudio" is the work area within Zwitch. The screen is subdivided into four areas. Each area can contain any form of digital content a user may need in combination with other content at any given time. Which application is needed for working with different contents need not concern the user.

At the center of separating lines is "Zwitch". Clicking and holding the central button allows users to determine which size each area is supposed to have in relation to the others. A click on one of the four corner buttons on outer ring jumps "Zwitch" to the opposite corner, thereby maximizing any of the four areas.

Users can work with contents within Zwitch as they would normally within the 'normal' application environments. In addition, "Virtual ink" allows users to benefit from the connection of many different applications. For example, a user can mark a fire extinguisher in a symbol library with an "X" using the tablet pen. The appropriate symbol is marked. When the user draws the "X" on a floorplan, the symbol is inserted at that position. Ultimately, this information would automatically be fed into a database. Each new symbol would be registered, denoting changes in the building. This way, data acquisition becomes fast and effective.

Ztudy

The central button of "Zwitch" servers not only as a means of moving it and resizing windows areas. A click on this button shifts the software from "Ztudio" into "Ztudy". Its mind-mapping capabilities give the user a powerful tool for organizing work projects. In addition it is used to assign digital content, which is to be displayed within the four areas of the “Ztudio”.

"Zwitch" is at the heart of the mind map. By using "virtual ink", users can create so-called "nodes" that are either directly or indirectly linked with "Zwitch". Each node has three differently clickable areas.

The large area to the top left of each node is a 'container' that can serve to link to different type of digital content. For example, a user can click in this part of the node and then select a file or a URL to link to. Note that the contents always remains outside Zwitch itself.
However, linking content to a node is not required. A node can also function as a type of 'folder'. For example, a node can denote a particular project. Within that project, there could be other nodes denoting parts of the project such as images or CAD files. However, the user is free to choose any other form of organization that corresponds to his personal view of the project. In a sense, he can create his own digital image of the project that most closely resembles the image he has of the project in his head. This is achieved by the freedom of locating and linking each node.

The second part of each node becomes visible when a user hovers over a node with the pen. It is located to the top right of the node and can be used to move it about.

The third part, a black circle to the bottom right of each node, is the starting point for connecting nodes by drawing lines. Users can thereby maintain strict hierarchies or break through them whenever they see fit.

When a user requires a combination of content in the "Ztudio", he can easily re-configure it by dragging and dropping the icons signifying links in the large section of each node into one of the four areas of the "Ztudio". The "Ztudio" remains visible when working in the "Ztudy" as a transparent background at all times.