Research Group for Pervasive Computing and User Interface Engineering

The Research Group for Pervasive Computing and User Interface Engineering was until Dezember 2010 led by Prof. Dr. Albrecht Schmidt. Prof. Dr. Albrecht Schmidt is now supervisor of the Human-Computer-Interaction Group (hciLab), which is part of the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems (VIS) of the University of Stuttgart. 

Independent of this change to the University of Stuttgart Prof. Dr. Albrecht Schmidt is still part of the executive board of the paluno - The Ruhr Institute for Software Technology.

Publications

Type of Publication: Article in Collected Edition

Exploring How Tangible Tools Enable Collaboration in a Multi-Touch Tabletop Game

Author(s):
Tess Speelpenning, Alissa Antle, Tanja Döring, Elise van den Hoven
Title of Anthology:
Interact 2011
Publisher:
Springer
Location(s):
Lisbon (Portugal)
Publication Date:
2011
Citation:
Download RIS

Abstract

Digital tabletop surfaces afford multiple user interaction and collaboration. Hybrid tabletops that include both tangible and multi-touch elements are increasingly being deployed in public settings (e.g. Microsoft Surface, reacTable). Designers need to understand how the different characteristics of tangible and multi-touch interface elements affect collaborative activity on tabletops. In this paper, we report on a mixed methods exploratory study of a collaborative tabletop game about sustainable development. We explore the effects of tangible and multi-touch tools on collaborative activity. Forty-five participants, in trios, played the game using both versions of the tools. Our analysis includes quantitative performance measures, qualitative themes and behavioral measures. Findings suggest that both tangible and multi-touch tools enabled effective tool use and that collaborative activity was more influenced by group dynamics than tool modality. However, we observed that the physicality of the tangible tools facilitated individual ownership and announcement of tool use, which in turn supported group and tool awareness.