Paper Reading #15: Madgets

Madgets: Actuating Widgets on Interactive Tabletops


Authors - Malte Weiss, Florian Schwarz, Simon Jakubowski, and Jan Borchers


Authors Bios - Malte Weiss is a PhD student and research assistant at the Media Computing Group of RWTH Aachen University specializing in interactive surfaces.
Florian Schwarz is a Diploma Thesis Student at RWTH Aachen University and is interested in translucent controls on interactive tabletops.
Simon Jakubowski is a student assistant at RWTH Aachen University and is supervised by Malte Weiss.

Jan Borchers is a professor at RWTH Aachen University and leads the Media Computing Group in researching human computer interaction.


Venue - This paper was presented at the UIST '10 Proceedings of the 23rd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology.


Summary


Hypothesis - In this paper, researchers introduce magnetic widgets, or Madgets, which let interactive tabletops give and receive information from widgets placed on their surface. Madgets are easy to build, flexible, inexpensive, and do not require any builtin electronics or power source. The hypothesis is that Madgets enables new interaction with complex actuated tabletop tangibles and will prove valuable as research in this field continues.


Methods - The researchers implemented Madgets using custom hardware, actuation algorithms, tracking algorithms, and ideas concerning what needed to be supported by the project.

Results - The surface used for Madgets was built by the researchers using a TFT panel from a Samsung TV, a sheet of EL foil, 228 electromagnets, fiber optic cables, LEDs, and 3 cameras. The surface utilized Diffused Surface Illumination (DSI) for touch recognition. The widgets are built using clear acrylic parts and magnets to both hold it in place and perform tasks. The actuation algorithms control the magnets when they are moving widgets, tangential actuation, or performing tasks with widgets, normal actuation and they also keep the magnets relatively cool by cycling magnets for other magnets. The tracking algorithms calculate input on the surface by using gradient markers on the IR results returned to the cameras. Widget and finger inputs are detected in this manner and pattern matching is used in determining which widget is present before mapping the location to internal coordinates. 


Content - Madgets allow for persistence (GUI interaction), remote calibration (group control), and ad-hoc use (moving a Madget closer to a user by touch). Height is an important aspect to Madgets and allows for buttons to move up and down. Resistance and vibrations are 2 possible types of feedback that Madgets can deliver to users indicating a completed action or an exceeded limit.


Conclusion - The researchers conclude by saying Madgets provides low-cost widgets and new actuation dimensions allowing for more research to continue in prototyping more widgets easily and working on better aestethics for the system as a whole as well as finding more appropriate feedback that coincides with the goals of Madgets.


Discussions


I think the researchers achieved their goal of expanding actuation interaction but I remain unconvinced of the need for such a device. They gave good examples for widgets but they did not expand upon what they could be used for or how they could possibly work together as I imagine they would in a real-world setting. Future work will be needed in figuring out applications for this system. I think the way in which the hardware was built was interesting using many different components in innovative ways and combining that with new algorithms to track and interpret data given the unusual hardware.