Paper Reading #12: Enabling Beyond-Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with an Invisible Projection

References: 
Enabling Beyond-Surface Interactions for Interactive Surface with an Invisible Projection by Li-Wei Chan, Hsiang-Tao Wu, Hui-Shan Kao, Ju-Chun Ko, Home-Ru Lin, Mike Y. Chen, Jane Hsu, Yi-Ping Hung.  Published in the UIST '10 Proceedings of the 23nd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.


Author Bios:  
Li-Wei Chan is currently a PhD student at the National Taiwan University.  He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from the same university, and a bachelors from Fu Jen Catholic University.  
Hsiang-Tao Wu, Hui-Shan Kao, and Home-Ru Lin are students at the National Taiwan University.  
Ju-Chun Ko is also a PhD student at the National Taiwan University in the Computer and Information Networking Center. 
 Mike Chen is a profession in the department of computer science at the National Taiwan University.  
Jane Hsu is a professor of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University. 
Yi-Ping Hung is a professor in the Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia at National Taiwan University. He also holds a Master's and PhD from Brown University.


Summary
Hypothesis
Using a programmable infrared technique it is possible to support interaction with a system beyond the simple surface of the display.
Methods
The tabletop system design consists of several components.  There is an invisible light projector with allows them to display invisible content for use in realizing 3D localization.  The projector was converted to infrared from a standard DLP projector.  Another component is the table surface, which consists of both a diffuse layer and a glass layer.  The diffuser layer is placed on top of the touch-glass layer in order to obtain the best quality projections from the table.  Additionally, there are several techniques used to enhance the functionality.  For example, the printed markers cannot adapt to the 3D positions of the cameras, so the idea is to adapt the marker size to the observing positions of the cameras so that they can see markers of optimal size during interaction.  
Results
Users were quick to note that they could only see the bottom part of a building and wanted to be able to lift the view to see the upper parts.  However, the i-m-View would get lost in the space above the table system.  Some users would flip the i-m-View on end to obtain a portrait view of the map scene, but this was not actually supported by the system.  Overall, users reported positive feedback regarding the i-m-Lamp, which was the more stationary fixture.  However, some users reported that they would like to be able to use the i-m-Flashlight as a sort of remote mouse with the ability to drag the map directly.  
Contents
The paper set out to present a tabletop display that gave users a unique 3D level of interaction with the system.  Using an infrared projector they were able to display the image and track user interaction.


Discussion
In my opinion, the authors of the paper did manage to pull off a very good proof of concept as far as demonstrating the 3D infrared interaction.  There were some shortcomings with the overall system, such as the mapping getting 'lost' or the i-r-flashlight not behaving entirely to the users' satisfaction, but these are relatively minor compared to the interest of the overall product that resulted.  I hope that some sort of at-home version of this technology becomes available in the near future, because I think it could have application in all sorts of fields.  Medicine, education, entertainment, and many other areas could benefit from it.