Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!pasteur!agate!bionet!ig!arizona!rogerh
From: rogerh@arizona.edu (Roger Hayes)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: subliminal feedback
Keywords: feedback windowing interfaces
Message-ID: <8134@megaron.arizona.edu>
Date: 1 Dec 88 17:24:05 GMT
References: <318@aratar.UUCP> <651@sdics.ucsd.EDU> <1073@arctic.nprdc.arpa>
Reply-To: rogerh@arizona.edu (Roger Hayes)
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson
Lines: 18

In article <1073@arctic.nprdc.arpa> trejo@nprdc.arpa (Leonard J. Trejo) 
suggests background color as a cue to mark the active window.
It might be good to use a blue tint to mark the inactive window,
as blue tends to recede visually (as in "atmospheric perspective").
Note that stippling is an approximation to coloring.

I think the effect we want is a difference which is just above a
"just-noticable-difference".  We want (or at least I think that I would
like) a difference which is perceptible if looked for, so that it is
accessible consciously, but which does not intrude, so that it
can be treated as a subliminal cue by experts. 

I like the idea of a color change as it does not require a change
in focus to determine the active window.  A border change requires
a change in focus to read, as does a change in the titlebar.

				Roger Hayes
				rogerh@arizona.edu