Tabletops - Horizontal Interactive Displays

Human-Computer Interaction is a multidisciplinary field focused on human aspects of the development of computer technology. As computer-based technology becomes increasingly pervasive-not just in developed countries, but worldwide-the need to take a human-centered approach in the design and development of this technology becomes ever more important: For roughly 30 years now, researchers and practitioners in computational and behavioral sciences have worked to identify theory and practice that influences the direction of these technologies, and this diverse work makes up the field of human-computer interaction. Broadly speaking it includes the study of what technology might be able to do for people and how people might interact with the technology.

In this series we present work which advances the science and technology of developing systems which are both effective and satisfying for people in a wide variety of contexts The human-computer interaction series will focus on theoretical perspectives (such as formal approaches drawn from a variety of behavioral sciences), practical approaches (such as the techniques for effectively integrating user needs in system development), and social issues (such as the determinants of utility, usability and acceptability).

Tabletops - Horizontal Interactive Displays - are compelling interfaces with unique characteristics. In everyday work, education and entertainment environments, tabletops can provide a stunning experience of intuitive interaction by direct touch and gestures ideal for small group collaboration. Recent developments of various technologies such as display and multi-touch technologies open up new possibilities to enrich interaction on horizontal interactive displays.

Bringing together current research in the domain of tabletops, this book integrates and summarises findings from the most important international tabletop research teams in 18 chapters. It provides a state-of-the art overview and allows for the discussion of emerging and future directions in research and technology of tabletops.

An introductory chapter, presenting a short history of tabletop research, technologies and products precedes the three major parts of the book, titled "under", "on and above" and "around and beyond" tabletops. These parts are associated with different research disciplines such as Hardware/Software and Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative work (CSCW).

Fellow tabletop researchers, practitioners who consider deploying interactive tabletops in real-world projects and interested readers from other research disciplines will find the book an excellent reference source which also provides a useful introduction into tabletop research for the academic curriculum.

Christian Muller-Tomfelde is a researcher at the Network Technologies Laboratory of the CSIRO ICT Centre in Sydney. His expertise lies in the research area of Human Computer Interaction and Virtual and Hybrid Environments focussing on the support of co-located and remote collaboration support. His interests also include novel forms of interaction, multimodal interaction such as sound feedback. After finishing his studies in electrical engineering at the University of Hamburg-Harburg, he worked at the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) in Karlsruhe. In 1997 he joined the GMD-IPSI's division AMBIENTE "Workspaces of the Future" in Darmstadt/Germany. He was involved in the i-LAND project and in the design of the roomware components of the first and second generations. In his dissertation he explored new forms of audio feedback for the collaborative interaction in hybrid, next generation work environments. As a post-doctoral fellow Christian was investigating aspects of Human Computer Interaction in virtual haptic environments. Now Christian is leading national research projects in distributed collaboration and for interactions on large high-resolution displays and in Multi-Display Environments within the CSIRO.