SLAP widgets: bridging the gap between virtual and physical controls on tabletops

  • Authors:

  • Malte Weiss;Julie Wagner;Yvonne Jansen;Roger Jennings;Ramsin Khoshabeh;James D. Hollan;Jan Borchers

  • Affiliations:

  • RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA,USA;University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA;University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA;RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

We present Silicone iLluminated Active Peripherals (SLAP), a system of tangible, translucent widgets for use on multitouch tabletops. SLAP Widgets are cast from silicone or made of acrylic, and include sliders, knobs, keyboards, and buttons. They add tactile feedback to multi-touch tables, improving input accuracy. Using rear projection, SLAP Widgets can be relabeled dynamically, providing inexpensive, battery-free, and untethered augmentations. Furthermore, SLAP combines the flexibility of virtual objects with physical affordances. We evaluate how SLAP Widgets influence the user experience on tabletops compared to virtual controls. Empirical studies show that SLAPWidgets are easy to use and outperform virtual controls significantly in terms of accuracy and overall interaction time.