Abstract
This paper looks at the possibility of providing a clearer separation between the application and the user interfaces through an approach that identifies common interaction abstractions specified in terms of what the application is trying to get from the user interface, or display to the user interface, rather than the messages for specific detailed interface device objects. From each common interaction abstraction it is possible to build several user interfaces whose look and feel are very different, a term referred to as aliasing. The look and feel of the user interfaces is determined by the hardware and software resources available at the node. For example, one system may support graphics, and another may not. The Common Interaction Abstractions Paradigm is introduced and certain common interactions that can occur in any interactive system are identified. Its use in aliasing is discussed and an illustrative example is described.