SnapRail: a tabletop user interface widget for addressing occlusion by physical objects

Authors:
Genki Furumi;Daisuke Sakamoto;Takeo Igarashi
Affiliations:
The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan;The University of Tokyo & JST ERATO Igarashi Design Interface Project, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan;The University of Tokyo & JST ERATO IGARASHI Design Interface Project, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
Venue:
Proceedings of the 2012 ACM international conference on Interactive tabletops and surfaces
Year:
2012

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Abstract

The screen of a tabletop computer is often occluded by physical objects such as coffee cups. This makes it difficult to see the virtual elements under the physical objects (visibility) and manipulate them (manipulability). Here we present a user interface widget, called "SnapRail," to address these problems, especially occlusion of a manipulable collection of virtual discrete elements such as icons. SnapRail detects a physical object on the surface and the virtual elements under the object. It then snaps the virtual elements to a rail widget that appears around the object. The user can then manipulate the virtual elements along the rail widget. We conducted a preliminary user study to evaluate the potential of this interface and collect initial feedback. The SnapRail interface received positive feedback from participants of the user study.