The DiamondTouch table is a front-projected interactive display that allows up to four users to sit face to face and work together on the same screen.[7] The DiamondTouch hardware enables a class of software known as "single-displaygroupware"[8] where collaborative work is supported by computer interfaces that allow participants to be physically close. While product literature[9] mentions consumer uses such as gaming,[10] customers of the DiamondTouch are using it for business and office applications.[11]
The principal feature that distinguishes the DiamondTouch table from other multi-touch interfaces, such as theApple iPhone,HP TouchSmart,Microsoft Surface or do-it-yourself systems inspired by the work ofJeff Han, is that the DiamondTouch table can identify who is touching where.[12] DiamondTouch achieves this feature through capacitive coupling between a transmitter array located in the touch surface and separate receivers located in the chair of each user.[13]
The physical set-up of the system consists of the DiamondTouch device connected to a PC viaUSB cable, and avideo projector suspended above the table and aimed down onto the touch surface. Cables connect chairs or receivers to the DiamondTouch unit. The current products have four receivers, thereby supporting one to four users.[9]
A software development kit (SDK) allows developers to build custom software applications using standard programming languages includingC,C++,Java,ActiveX (forC#,DHTML,VB.NET) andAdobe Flash. A mouse emulator enables the operation of common software applications using multi-touch gestures for mouse functions (left button, middle button, right button and scroll wheel). A multi-user annotation software tool allows users to make mark-ups, selecting pen types from a pallet.
In September 2008, Circle Twelve introduced a software extension for thegeospatial information systems (GIS) softwareArcView fromESRI.[14] The software extension allows multi-user and multi-touch interactions in ArcView when used in conjunction with the DiamondTouch table.[11]
DiamondTouch technology was developed by Paul Dietz and Darren Leigh at MERL, and presented at theACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) in 2001.[2] The hardware complimented otherHuman-Computer Interaction (HCI) research, including the Personal Digital Historian[15] developed byChia Shen and others at MERL, and led to developments in tabletop computing,[16] shared display groupware, and touch-based interaction. While the traditional computer interfaces (consisting of a mouse, keyboard and monitor) were originally designed to support individuals, the focus was to create a new type of computer interface to support face-to-face collaboration among small groups of people.
In 2003, MERL started a university loan program in which DiamondTouch tables were provided to universities for research purposes, and tabletop computing research built around DiamondTouch began at research groups includingStanford University,Carnegie Mellon University,Georgia Institute of Technology, andUniversity of Tokyo, leading to research papers presented at academic conferences including UIST, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, and International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII). Research in the field led to the formation of the annual academic conference beginning in 2006 called Tabletop (initially, the IEEE International Workshop on Horizontal Interactive Human-Computer Systems or TableTop 2006, and most recently the ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces or Tabletop 2010).
DiamondTouch first appeared publicly at a cocktail reception at the 2004Technology Entertainment Design (TED) conference[17] and soon after that at the firstNextFest sponsored byWired Magazine.[18] In 2006, MERL began selling the DiamondTouch table product commercially. In 2008, MERL licensed the DiamondTouch technology to Circle Twelve Inc, a company founded by MERL’s former VP of Business Development, Adam Bogue.[19]
Researchers from Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) developed a Collaborative Puzzle Game with the aim of fostering social interaction skills among children withAutism Spectrum Disorders.[20] The work was presented at the 8th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR).[21]
A system for conflict negotiation and resolution betweenPalestinian and Israeli youths was designed in which face-to-face interaction was mediated by the DiamondTouch table. Research took place atUniversity of Haifa and was presented at CHI 2008.[22]
A Shared Speech Interface was designed by researchers atUCSD to facilitate conversations between deaf and non-signing, hearing people.[23] The work was presented at CSCW 2008.[24]
A study atUniversity of Sussex focused on comparing multi-user interaction around vertical displays versus horizontal displays and found that horizontal displays were better for collaboration, concluding that users of horizontal displays "switched more between roles, explored more ideas and had a greater awareness of what each other was doing," while users of vertical displays "found it more difficult to collaborate."[26]
Recognizing that image orientation poses an interface issue with multi-user horizontal displays, researchers from MERL developed DiamondSpin, a java-based applications development framework."[27] The DiamondSpin toolkit is available for download.http://diamondspin.free.fr/
Multi-modal interfaces that combine speech recognition and direct touch interactions were explored by researchers atUniversity of Calgary and MERL,[30] leading to applications that included an adaptation ofWarCraft III on the DiamondTouch table.[31]
Issues of social protocol in multi-user tabletop computer systems were explored by researchers fromStanford, MERL andUniversity of Paris, proposing paradigms for user interface design in shared display groupware.[32]
Researchers from MERL andUniversity of Toronto developed user interface design principles formulti-touch screens, including the use of various hand postures in one and two-handed touch interaction concepts.[33]
^Shen, C.; Lesh, N.; Moghaddam, B.; Beardsley, P.; Bardsley, R. (2001). "Personal digital historian: user interface design".CHI '01 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems.CHI: Seattle, WA.CiteSeerX10.1.1.10.5992.
