Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) offer the potential to facilitate collaborative learning in new ways. This paper presents an empirical study that investigated the effects of a TUI in a classroom setting on task performance and learning outcomes. In the tangible condition, apprentices worked together around an interactive tabletop warehouse simulation using tangible inputs. In the paper conditio...

Digital tabletop surfaces afford multiple user interaction and collaboration. Hybrid tabletops that include both tangible and multi-touch elements are increasingly being deployed in public settings (e.g. Microsoft Surface, reacTable). Designers need to understand how the different characteristics of tangible and multi-touch interface elements affect collaborative activity on tabletops. In this ...

Tangible computing incorporates gesture, grasping, and the use of physical objects as integral parts of interaction design. This paper describes a theory-driven design studio course in which students were asked to develop a new tangible application grounded in the psychology of gesture and thought and informed by protocol studies and critiques of the role of gesture in existing tangible applica...

We describe a design approach, Tangible Augmented Reality, for developing interfaces for supporting face-to-face collaboration. By combining Augmented Reality techniques with Tangible User Interface elements, we can create interfaces in which users can interact with spatial data as easy as real objects. Tangible AR interfaces remove the separation between the real and virtual worlds and so enha...

In this paper we present a proof of concept for saving and restoring mechanisms for Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs). We describe our actuated Tangible Active Objects (TAOs) and explain the design which allows equal user access to a dial-based fully tangible actuated menu metaphor. We present a new application extending an existing TUI for interactive sonification of process data with saving and...

Dementia is a serious degenerative neurological condition that affects cognition and memory, often accompanied with depression and anxiety. As explicit memory deteriorates, the implicit memory remains, so sensory stimulation and tangible solutions become increasingly important to people with dementia. This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation process of Closer to Nature, an ...

Digital devices are now ubiquitous and have the potential to be used to support positive changes in human lives and promote psychological well-being. This paper presents three interactive systems that we created focusing on introspection activities, leveraging tangible interaction and spatial augmented reality. More specifically, we describe anthropomorphic augmented avatars that display the us...