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 Chen, Hsiang-Tao Wu, Hui-Shan Ko, Ju-Chun Ko, Home-Ru Lin, Mike Chen, Jane Hsu, Yi-Ping Hung, "Enabling beyond-surface interactions for interactive surface with an invisible projection". UIST '10 Proceedings of the 23nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology ACM New York, NY, USA ©2010.
Author Bios:
Li-Wei Chen- Li-Wei's education: BSc Electrical Engineering, Queen's University, 1998. MASc Electrical Engineering, University of Toronto, 2000. PhD Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005.
Hsiang-Tao Wu- is a Microsoft Researcher.
Ju-Chun Ko-  Ph. D (Candidate) student in Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia of National Taiwan University
Mike Chen- Professor in the Computer Science department at National Taiwan University.
Jane Hsu- Jane Hsu is a professor of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University
Yi-Ping Hung- Yi-Ping Hung received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the National Taiwan University, and his Master and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University. He is currently a professor in the Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia, and in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, both at the National Taiwan University
Summary:

• Hypothesis: If the authors can successfully create a programmable infrared (IR) technique that can interact with surfaces beyond a two-dimensional fashion, then enabling a spatially-aware multi-display  and multi-touch tabletop system is inherently possible.
• Methods: The authors use a modified DLP projector, mirrors, an IR projection, and color projection to implement their creation. To handle multiple inputs from other devices, their device will create 4 smaller markers around projections from closer devices and give that projection priority while also creating 4 successively larger markers around remaining input projections to capture all of it at once. To handle multi-touch inputs, the marker patterns become dynamic to resize angles, sharpen resolution, and recognize all inputs. The authors conducted a small user study asking participants to use their map application by finding and investigating buildings.
• Results: By processing one layer at a time and by also simulating the background, the authors are able to retrieve proper inputs, associations, and recognitions. The authors also have the i-m-flashlight as an exploratory tool, the i-m-lamp as a "desk lamp", and a i-m-camera for the 3D views. All of these devices interact with one another and are connected with the table. The results from the user study showed some flaws in the implementation of the device. For example, if a user wanted to explore an entire building, they couldn't. Only the bottom portion of the structure was displayed. When users tried to "scroll" up to see the top using the i-m-lamp, the views went out of range. Users found that the i-m-flashlight was more efficient in working on short-term tasks while the i-m-lamp was more efficient in working with long-term tasks. Moving the i-m-lamp around a lot in a short period of time produced less accurate results. The users found quickly that the different pieces of technology were meant for different kinds of interactions.
• Content: The authors wanted to create something that would be spread across a tabletop and handle multiple inputs on the actual surface in three dimensions. By using the prototype that they made out of modified projectors, screens, cameras, and mirrors, they were able to do that. Their device can also handle invisible markers for detection on multi-inputs. Three devices, the i-m- lamp, i-m-camera, and i-m-flashlight all coordinate with each other to handle 3D imaging, processing, and dynamic inputs. They conducted a study on early user feedback and used the results to gather methods and ways to improve their creation for future versions.

Discussion:
I liked the diagrams and pictures of this new device. These people were really smart to be able to basically construct something that can do all of these things and can support all of these features from scratch. I see definite uses for this technology, particularly in the construction and architecture fields. I think the authors achieved, at least partially, what they set out to do. They created a device, got user feedback, and can now improve on it for future releases. At least they were able to catch problems users had with it before they mass commercialized it. I think this can be a building block, but seemed a bit complicated to make. I got a little lost when they began to describe methods for constructing and implementing the device.