Handoff is a synchronous object transfer technique in face-to-face collaborative work and is one of the low-level actions of collaboration that is smooth and natural in physical settings; however, in digital tabletop workspaces, digital handoff is often awkward and difficult to control. We carried out a series of studies to investigate how digital handoff could be improved in tabletop systems. We first observed people doing several real-world tasks around a standard table and found that handoff is as common in the real-world as deposit (an asynchronous tool transfer technique). The study identified several guidelines to support the design of handoff actions in digital tabletop system. We then examined 2D-handoff techniques; by running a pilot study, we compared the traditional handoff technique with the real-world tangible handoff technique, and found that the traditional digital handoff technique was not well suited for transferring objects on the tabletop. By analyzing the handoff mechanism we spot the bottleneck that affected traditional handoff procedures and designed a novel 2D-handoff technique, force-field technique, which alleviated this bottle-neck to solve this problem. Through a user-study we found that the force-field technique was significantly faster than current digital handoff techniques and as good as real-world 2D-handoff techniques. In addition, force-field handoff was most preferred by a majority of participants. We further designed and implemented a 3D-handoff technique that embodies our observations of how handoff occurs in the real-world setting. <p>Finally, we evaluated our design in a simulated digital-tabletop task with the goal of assessing the usefulness of various digital transfer techniques including standard deposit, traditional handoff, force-field and 3D-handoff. The results showed that on the digital tabletop system the percentage of using deposit, 2D-handoff and 3D-handoff techniques is similar with the percentage of using these techniques on the real world physical table. 3D-handoff was the most preferred and the most frequently used technique among the handoff techniques; and the force-field technique is preferred than traditional handoff technique.

Handoff is a synchronous object transfer technique in face-to-face collaborative work and is one of the low-level actions of collaboration that is smooth and natural in physical settings; however, in digital tabletop workspaces, digital handoff is often awkward and difficult to control. We carried out a series of studies to investigate how digital handoff could be improved in tabletop systems. We first observed people doing several real-world tasks around a standard table and found that handoff is as common in the real-world as deposit (an asynchronous tool transfer technique). The study identified several guidelines to support the design of handoff actions in digital tabletop system. We then examined 2D-handoff techniques; by running a pilot study, we compared the traditional handoff technique with the real-world tangible handoff technique, and found that the traditional digital handoff technique was not well suited for transferring objects on the tabletop. By analyzing the handoff mechanism we spot the bottleneck that affected traditional handoff procedures and designed a novel 2D-handoff technique, force-field technique, which alleviated this bottle-neck to solve this problem. Through a user-study we found that the force-field technique was significantly faster than current digital handoff techniques and as good as real-world 2D-handoff techniques. In addition, force-field handoff was most preferred by a majority of participants. We further designed and implemented a 3D-handoff technique that embodies our observations of how handoff occurs in the real-world setting. <p>Finally, we evaluated our design in a simulated digital-tabletop task with the goal of assessing the usefulness of various digital transfer techniques including standard deposit, traditional handoff, force-field and 3D-handoff. The results showed that on the digital tabletop system the percentage of using deposit, 2D-handoff and 3D-handoff techniques is similar with the percentage of using these techniques on the real world physical table. 3D-handoff was the most preferred and the most frequently used technique among the handoff techniques; and the force-field technique is preferred than traditional handoff technique.

Multi-touch technology on tabletop displays lets children interact with digital objects in collaborative and competitive ways. Multi-touch tables are not a part of classroom instruction because of high cost and lack of meaningful applications. This thesis explores possible solutions to building hardware and software that support the engagement of children. Outlined is a demonstration of our Mobile Interactive Learning Table (MILT), a custom hardware system that can be built for a cost well below current commercial implementations. Experiences with transporting the table to schools and similar settings are discussed, as well as proposed advantages to this do-it-yourself custom approach. Additionally, digital card games were created to encourage elementary and middle school student engagement in meaningful learning. Observations of children collaborating and competitively playing these games, and a comparison study comparing gameplay using different input devices were conducted. / Master of Science

This thesis falls into a field of user interface design. It focuses on tangible user interfaces which utilize a camera and projector to augment physical objects with a digital information. It also includes description of calibration of those devices. The primary object of this thesis is the implementation of an augmented user interface for application windows management. The system consists of a stationary camera, overhead projector and movable tangible objects - boards. The boards are equipped with fiducial markers, in order to be tracked in a camera image. The projector displays the conventional desktop onto the table and the tangible objects. For example, application windows can be projected onto some boards, while the windows move and rotate simultaneously with the boards.

Les travaux de cette thèse en informatique s’inscrivent dans le domaine de l’interaction homme-machine (IHM). Le sujet de ce mémoire concerne l’utilisation d’une nouvelle forme d’ordinateur appelée table interactive. Il s’agit d’une table dont le plateau est à la fois un écran et une surface de détection multi-tactile. Les tables interactives ouvrent de nouveaux usages de l’informatique en permettant des applications multi-utilisateurs en coprésence. Les utilisateurs d’une même table interactive ont naturellement envie d’interagir simultanément sur la surface partagée. Cette simultanéité est toutefois difficile à observer dans un contexte collaboratif et non artificiel. Les études existantes n’ont pas suffisamment analysé les problèmes rencontrés ni cherché comment le système peut aider à gérer les accès simultanés.Notre approche a consisté à étudier les interactions simultanées en nous orientant vers des situations originales où la couche applicative du système exerce une forte pression sur le rythme d’utilisation. Nous justifions ainsi l’utilisation d’un jeu vidéo comme outil d’exploration et d’expérimentation. Ce mémoire retrace la conception et le développement de RealTimeChess, un jeu pour 2 à 4 joueurs, adapté aux caractéristiques des tables interactives, et inspiré des échecs dans une version s’affranchissant du tour par tour. Nous rapportons les résultats d’expériences menées sur des groupes de 2 à 4 participants en situations de coopération et de compétition, qui ont permis de mettre en évidence des problèmes de gênes physiques et d’accessibilité aux objets distants ; de perception des informations importantes en contexte dynamique ; et de contrôle du rythme de l’interaction.Ce mémoire expose en outre les leçons apprises au niveau de l’interaction simultanée de plusieurs utilisateurs, des aspects de territorialité, des comportements collaboratifs et enfin en proposant des recommandations de Game Design pour tables interactives. / This thesis presents our work in computer science in human-computer interaction (HCI). The subject concerns the use of a new kind of computer called the interactive tabletop display. It is a table whose top is both a screen and a multi-touch detection device. Interactive tabletops open up new uses of computer applications by allowing several co-located users to work or play together on the same system. Tabletop’s users naturally want to interact simultaneously on the shared surface. This simultaneity is difficult to observe in a collaborative and not artificial environment. Existing studies have not sufficiently analyzed the problems nor sought how the system can help manage concurrency.Our approach was to exploring simultaneous interactions by studying original situations where the system puts pressure on users. We explain how we used a video game as an exploration and experimentation tool. This thesis traces the design and development of RealTimeChess, a game for 2-4 players, a real-time version of Chess adapted to tabletops. We report the results of experiments on groups of 2 to 4 participants in situations of cooperation and competition, which helped to highlight problems and physical discomfort of access to remote objects, awareness in dynamic context, and control the pace of interaction.This thesis also presents lessons learned on simultaneous interactions of multiple users, territoriality aspects, collaborative behavior, and finally gives tabletop Game Design guidelines.