DiamondTouch
The MERL DiamondTouch table is a multi-user, debris-tolerant, touch-and-gesture-activated screen for supporting small group collaboration. The DiamondTouch product line has moved operations from the MERL research lab and into a separate company called Circle Twelve Inc.
Background & Objective: Computers are good at facilitating collaboration between people in remote locations. However, when people are in the same place at the same time, computers tend to get in the way. DiamondTouch supports small group collaboration by providing a display interface that allows users to maintain eye contact while interacting with the display simultaneously (i.e., without having to take turns). DiamondTouch was first created in 2001 as an experimental multi-user interface device. Over the following few years, MERL manufactured about 100 DiamondTouch tables, lending them to universities and research organizations around the world. DiamondTouch has been available commercially since 2006.
Technical Discussion: DiamondTouch is front-projected and uses an array of antennas embedded in the touch surface. Each antenna transmits a unique signal. Each user has a separate receiver, connected to the user capacitively, typically through the user's chair. When a user touches the surface, antennas near the touch point couple an extremely small amount of signal through the user's body and to the receiver. This unique touch technology supports multiple touches by a single user (e.g., two handed touch gestures) and distinguishes between simultaneous inputs from multiple users. Multi-user and gesture-based applications may be developed on DiamondTouch with the DiamondTouch SDK or with the DTFlash toolkit. DiamondTouch tables are available in two sizes (32" diagonal and 42" diagonal display), while custom sizes and shapes are available on spec.
Contacts:
Adam Bogue
Alan Esenther
Clifton Forlines
William Yerazunis
Publications:
Jiang, H.; Wigdor, D.; Forlines, C.; Borkin, M.; Kauffmann, J.; Shen, C., "LivOlay: Interactive Ad-hoc Registration and Overlapping of Applications for Collaborative Visual Exploration", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ISBN: 978-1-60558-011-1, pp. 1357-1360, April 2008 (ACM Press, TR2008-040)
Wigdor, D.; Penn, G.; Ryall, K.; Esenther, A.; Shen, C., "Living with a Tabletop: Analysis and Observations of Long Term Office Use of a Multi-Touch Table", IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-computer Systems, ISBN: 978-0-7695-2013-1, October 2007 (IEEE Explore, TR2007-076)
Wigdor, D.; Shen, C.; Forlines, C.; Balakrishnan, R., "Perception of Elementary Graphical Elements in Tabletop and Multi-Surface Environments", Conference on Human Factors In Computing Systems (SIGCHI), ISBN: 978-1-59593-593-9, Apirl 2007 (ACM Press, TR2007-054)
Forlines, C.; Wigdor, D.; Shen, C.; Balakrishnan, R., "Direct-touch vs. Mouse Input for Tabletop Displays", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems, ISBN: 978-1-50503-503-9, pp. 647-656, April 2007 (ACM Press, TR2007-053)
Ivanov, Y.; Sorokin, A.; Wren, C.; Kaur, I., "Tracking People in Mixed Modality Systems", SPIE Conference on Visual Communications and Image Processing (VCIP), Vol. 6508, January 2007 (SPIE Publications, TR2007-011)
Tse, E.; Greenberg, S.; Shen, C., "GSI Demo: Multiuser Gesture/Speech Interaction over Digital Tables by Wrapping Single User Applications", International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces (ICMI), ISBN: 1-59593-541-X, pp 76-83, November 2006 (ACM Press, TR2006-085)
Wigdor, D.; Leigh, D.; Forlines, C.; Shipman, S.; Barnwell, J.; Balakrishnan, R.; Shen, C., "Under the Table Interaction", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-59593-313-1, pp. 259-268, October 2006 (ACM Press, TR2006-076)
Forlines, C.; Esenther, A.; Shen, C.; Wigdor, D.; Ryall, K., "Multi-User, Multi-Display Interaction with a Single-User, Single-Display Geospatial Application", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-59593-313-1, pp. 273-276, October 2006 (ACM Press, TR2006-083)
Esenther, A.; Ryall, K., "RemoteDT: Support for Multi-Site Table Collaboration", International Conference on Collaboration Technologies (CollabTech), July 2006 (CollabTech 2006, TR2006-084)
Esenther, A.; Ryall, K., "Fluid DTMouse: Better Mouse Support for Touch-Based Interactions", Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI), May 2006 (AVI 2006, TR2006-001)
Tse, E.; Shen, C.; Greenberg, S.; Forlines, C., "Enabling Interaction with Single User Applications through Speech and Gestures on a Multi-User Tabletop", Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI), May 2006 (AVI 2006, TR2005-130)
Wigdor, D.; Shen, C.; Forlines, C.; Balakrishnan, R., "Table-Centric Interactive Spaces for Real-Time Collaboration", Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI), To appear May 2006 (AVI 2006, TR2006-012)
Tse, E.; Greenberg, S.; Shen, C.; Forlines, C., "Multimodal Multiplayer Tabletop Gaming", International Workshop on Pervasive Gaming Applications (PerGames), May 2006 (PerGames 2006, TR2006-009)
Shen, C.; Esenther, A.; Forlines, C.; Ryall, K., "Three Modes of Multi-Surface Interaction and Visualization", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), April 2006 (CHI 2006, TR2006-025)
Wu, M.; Shen, C.; Ryall, K.; Forlines, C.; Balakrishnan, R., "Gesture Registration, Relaxation, and Reuse for Multi-Point Direct-Touch Surfaces", IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems (TableTop), pp. 185-192, January 2006 (IEEE Xplore, TR2005-109)
Ryall, K.; Ringel Morris, M.; Everitt, K.; Forlines, C.; Shen, C., "Experiences With and Observations of Direct-Touch Tables", IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems (TableTop), pp. 89-96, January 2006 (IEEE Xplore, TR2005-108)
Everitt, K.; Shen, C.; Ryall, K.; Forlines, C., "MultiSpace: Enabling Electronic Document Micro-mobility in Table-Centric, Multi-Device Environments", IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems (TableTop), pp. 27-34, January 2006 (IEEE Xplore, TR2005-110)
Shen, C., "Multi-User Interface and Interactions on Direct-Touch Horizontal Surfaces: Collaborative Tabletop Research at MERL", IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems (TableTop), ISBN: 0-7695-2494-X, pp. 53-54, January 2006 (IEEE Xplore, TR2005-119)
Esenther, A.; Wittenburg, K., "Multi-User Multi-Touch Games on DiamondTouch with the FTFlash Toolkit", Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment (INTETAIN), November 2005 (INTETAIN 2005, TR2005-105)
Dietz, P.H.; Harsham, B.; Forlines, C.; Leigh, D; Yerazunis, W.; Shipman, S.; Schmidt-Nielsen, B.; Ryall, K., "DT Controls: Adding Indentity to Physical Interfaces", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-59593-271-2, pp. 245-252, October 2005 (ACM Press, TR2005-069)
Forlines, C.; Shen, C., "DTLens: Multi-user Tabletop Spatial Data Exploration", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-59593-271-2, pp. 119-122, October 2005 (ACM Press, TR2005-096)
Ryall, K.; Li, Q.; Esenther, A., "Temporal Magic Lens: Combined Spatial and Temporal Query and Presentation", IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT), To Appear September 2005 (INTERACT 2005, TR2005-031)
Ryall, K.; Esenther, A.; Everitt, K.; Forlines, C.; Ringel Morris, M.; Shen, C.; Shipman, S.; Vernier, F., "iDwidgets: Parameterizing Widgets by User Identity", IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT), September 2005 (INTERACT 2005, TR2005-055)
Furuichi, M.; Mihori, Y.; Muraoka, F.; Estenther, A.; Ryall, K., "DTMap Demo: Interactive Tabletop Maps for ubiquitous Computing", International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp), September 2005 (UbiComp 2005, TR2005-091)
Hancock, M.S.; Shen, C.; Forlines, C.; Ryall, K., "Exploring Non-Speech Auditory Feedback at an Interactive Multi-User Tabletop", Conference on Graphics Interface (GI), ISBN: 0713-5424, pp. 41-50, May 2005 (Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society, TR2005-054)
Shen, C.; Hancock, M.S.; Forlines, C.; Vernier, F.D., "CoR2Ds: Context-Rooted Rotatable Draggables for Tabletop Interaction", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Short Paper, April 2005 (CHI 2005, TR2005-001)
Everitt, K.; Shen, C.; Ryall, K.; Forlines, C., "Modal Spaces: Spatial Multiplexing to Mediate Direct-Touch Input on Large Displays", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Short Paper, April 2005 (CHI 2005, TR2005-002)
Forlines, C.; Shen, C.; Buxton, B., "Glimpse: A Novel Input Model for Multi-Level Devices", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) Short Paper, ISBN: 1-59593-002-7, pp. 1375-1378, April 2005 (ACM Press, TR2005-024)
Ringel-Morris, M.; Ryall, K.; Shen, C.; Forlines, C.; Vernier, F., "Beyond Social Protocols: Multi-User Coordination Policies for Co-located Groupware", ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), ISBN: 1-58113-810-5, pp. 262-265, November 2004 (ACM Press, TR2004-123)
Ryall, K.; Forlines, C.; Shen, C.; Ringel-Morris, M., "Exploring the Effects of Group Size and Table Size on Interactions with Tabletop Shared-Display Groupware", ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), ISBN: 1-58113-810-5, pp. 284-293, November 2004 (ACM Press, TR2004-124)
Lee, J.C.; Dietz, P.H.; Leigh, D.; Yerazunis, W.S.; Hudson, S.E., "Haptic Pen: A Tactile Feedback Stylus for Touch Screens ", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-58113-957-8, pp. 291-294, October 2004 (ACM Press, TR2004-133)
Shen, C.; Vernier, F.D.; Forlines, C.; Ringel, M., "DiamondSpin: An Extensible Toolkit for Around-the-Table Interaction", ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ISBN: 1-58113-702-8, pp. 167-174, April 2004 (ACM Press, TR2004-005)
Moghaddam, B.; Tian, Q.; Lesh, N.B.; Shen, C.; Huang, T. S., "Visualization and User-Modeling for Browsing Personal Photo Libraries", International Journal of Computer Vision, Vol. 56, Issue 1-2, pp.109-130, January 2004 (ACM Press, TR2004-026)
Raskar, R.; van Baar, J.; Beardsley, P.A.; Forlines, C.; Dietz, P.H.; Esenther, A.W.; Leigh, D.L; Ryall, K.; Shen, C.; Shipman, S.E.; Yerazunis, W.S., "Intelligent Clusters and Collaborative Projector-based Displays", NSF Workshop on Collaborative Virtual Reality and Visualization (CVRV), October 2003 (NSF Workshop on Collaborative Virtual Reality and Visualization, TR2003-086)
Shen, C.; Everitt, K.M.; Ryall, K., "UbiTable: Impromptu Face-to-Face Collaboration on Horizontal Interactive Surfaces ", ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp), October 2003 (UbiComp 2003, TR2003-049)
Shen, C.; Lesh, N.; Vernier, F., "Personal Digital Historian: Story Sharing Around the Table", ACM Interactions, ISSN:1072-5520, Vol. 10, Issue 2, pp. 15-22, March/April 2003 (ACM Press, TR2003-004)
Shen, C.; Lesh, N.B.; Vernier, F.; Forlines, C.; Frost, J., "Building and Sharing Digital Group Histories", ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), pp. 3, November 2002 (ACM Press, TR2002-007)
Wittenburg, K., "Reseach on Public, Community and Situated Displays at MERL Cambridge", Public, Community and Situated Displays Workshop (CSCW), November 2002 (CSCW 2002, TR2002-045)
Esenther, A.; Forlines, C.; Ryall, K.; Shipman, S., "DiamondTouch SDK: Support for Multi-User, Multi-Touch Applications", ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), November 2002 (CSCW 2002, TR2002-048)
Dietz, P.H.; Leigh, D.L., "DiamondTouch: A Multi-User Touch Technology", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-58113-438-X, pps 219-226, November 2001 (Proc ACM Press, TR2003-125)
| Technical Reports: | |
| Observations of a Shared Tabletop User Study | |
| Conflict Resolution in Paper and Digital Worlds: Two Surveys of User Expectations | |
Technology Area: Off the Desktop Interaction and Display
Modification Date: August 13, 2008
