Distributed and local sensing techniques for face-to-face collaboration

• Authors: Ken Hinckleyss
• Venue: Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Multimodal interfaces
• Year: 2003

This paper describes techniques that allow users to collaborate on tablet computers that employ distributed sensing techniques to establish a privileged connection between devices. Each tablet is augmented with a two-axis linear accelerometer (tilt sensor), touch sensor, proximity sensor, and light sensor. The system recognizes when users bump two tablets together by looking for spikes in each tablet's accelerometer data that are synchronized in time; bumping establishes a privileged connection between the devices. Users can face one another and bump the tops of two tablets together to establish a collaborative face-to-face workspace. The system then uses the sensors to enhance transitions between personal work and shared work. For example, a user can hold his or her hand near the top of the workspace to "shield" the display from the other user. This gesture is sensed using the proximity sensor together with the light sensor, allowing for quick "asides" into private information or to sketch an idea in a personal workspace. Picking up, putting down, or walking away with a tablet are also sensed, as is angling the tablet towards the other user. Much research in single display groupware considers shared displays and shared artifacts, but our system explores a unique form of dual display groupware for face-to-face communication and collaboration using personal display devices.