Augmenting interactive tables with mice & keyboards

Abstract

This note examines the role traditional input devices can play in surface computing. Mice and keyboards can enhance tabletop technologies since they support high fidelity input, facilitate interaction with distant objects, and serve as a proxy for user identity and position. Interactive tabletops, in turn, can enhance the functionality of traditional input devices: they provide spatial sensing, augment devices with co-located visual content, and support connections among a plurality of devices. We introduce eight interaction techniques for a table with mice and keyboards, and we discuss the design space of such interactions.