Paper Reading #12: Enabling Beyond Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with An Invisible Projection

• Title:
• Enabling Beyond Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with An Invisible Projection
• Reference Information:
• Li-Wei Chan, Hsiang-Tao Wu, Hui-Shan Kao, Ju-Chun Ko, Home-Ru Lin, Mike Y. Chen, Jane Hsu, and Yi-Ping Hung. 2010. Enabling beyond-surface interactions for interactive surface with an invisible projection.  In <em>Proceedings of the 23nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology</em> (UIST '10). ACM, New York, NY, USA,  263-272. DOI=10.1145/1866029.1866072 http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1866029.1866072
• UIST 2010 New York, New York.
• Author Bios:
• Li-Wei Chan is a student at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had twelve ACM publications in the last four years.
• Hsiang-Tao Wu  is a student at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had four ACM publications in the last year.
• Hui-Shan Kao  is a student at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had four ACM publications in 2009 and 2010.
• Ju-Chun Ko is a student at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had six ACM publications in 2009 and 2010.
• Home-Ru Lin  is a student at the National Taiwan University. Chan had two ACM publications in 2010.
• Mike Y. Chen is a student at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had seven ACM publications in the last year.
• Jane Hsu  is a professor at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had thirty six ACM publications in the last twenty two years.
• Yi-Ping Hung  is a professor at the National Taiwan University. Chan has had sixty seven ACM publications in the last twenty two years.
• Summary
• Hypothesis:
• The researchers hypothesized that they could create an interactive table that is interactive through infrared projections.  By using more than one projector, the researchers hoped to give placement information to the system while displaying various visual information to the users.  
• Methods
• Infrared projections displayed tags that are invisible to the human eye but are used by the system as place markers.  These place markers allowed additional devices, such as modified tablets, to determine their 3D location with 6 degrees of freedom and present information accordingly.  Both projectors, the infrared as well as the color, were placed below the surface.  A diffuser layer was added to the table to reduce glare, but it introduced unwanted spots in reading the infrared data so a second camera was introduced.  Three additional devices (a lamp, a flashlight and a modified tablet) were produced to show interaction possibilities.
• Results
• Reading the infrared codes did allow the additional items to determine their 3D location. This allowed additional information to be displayed, such as a more zoomed in picture of an area or a 3D display of buildings shown in 2D on the table.  A problem labelled as 'dead reckoning' quickly emerged.  When the users tilted the tablets too far, in order to inspect the top of a building, the tablet would lose sight of the infrared tags therefore losing its 3D location.
• Contents
• The paper presents a method for enabling interactions beyond simple touch interactions on a surface.  These additional input methods and augmented reality aspects allow users to obtain more information than can be simply displayed by a 2D surface.  This includes displaying unique information to various users all at the same time, depending on what the user wants to focus on.
• Discussion
• The paper effectively demonstrates a working prototype of the researchers hypothesized system.  Hopefully this system will have further research put into it because I can see it being a powerful augmented reality tool.  For example, if people are at a museum and the room is filled with infrared tags, every individual could be inspecting and interacting with the same object at the same time without harming another person's experience.  Additionally, physical space would not be required to display textual information that only a limited number of people would be interested in, and that information would only be displayed if the user focused on it.  This system appears to give a powerful experience that can be personalized for every individual utilizing it.

Picture Source: "Enabling Beyond Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with An Invisible Projection"