Interfaces, Interaction Techniques and User Experience on Direct-Touch Horizontal Surfaces.

Tables provide a large and natural interface for supporting direct manipulation of visual content for human-to-human interactions. Such surfaces also support collaboration, coordination, and parallel problem solving. However, the direct-touch table metaphor also presents considerable challenges, including the need for input methods that transcend traditional mouse and keyboard-based designs. Here, we explore tabletop advantages by examining the techniques we’ve developed to leverage those advantages. In addition to presenting six basic challenges we’ve encountered in our efforts, we discuss the experiences gained and lessons learned on this research journey