Pushmepullyou: The Reality of Interaction with Shared Objects in Networked Walk-in Displays

This paper investigates the reality of shared manipulation of objects between users in distributed walkin displays and presents solutions to address the effects of constraints of network technology. Various forms of shared interaction are examined through a single structured task of building a Gazebo. Communication of tracking data can saturate the network and result in delay or loss of messages vital to the shared manipulation of an object. We report on extensive trails between three walkin displays in the UK and Austria, linked over the Internet using a Collaborative Virtual Environment (CVE) and demonstrate such effects on a naive implementation of the Gazebo building task. We then present and evaluate application-level workarounds and conclude by suggesting solutions that may be implemented within next-generation CVE infrastructures.