Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Roles of Orientation in Tabletop Collaboration: Comprehension, Coordination and Communication

  • Published:
Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In order to support co-located collaboration, many researchers are now investigating how to effectively augment tabletops with electronic displays. As far back as 1988, orientation was recognized as a significant human factors issue that must be addressed by electronic tabletop designers. As with traditional tables, when people stand or sit at different positions around a horizontal display they will be viewing the contents from different angles. One common solution to this problem is to have the software reorient objects so that a given individual can view them ‘right way up.’ Yet is this the best approach? If not, how do people actually use orientation on tables? To answer these questions, we conducted an observational study of collaborative activity on a traditional table. Our results show that the strategy of reorienting objects to a person’s view is overly simplistic: while important, it is an incomplete view of how people exploit their ability to reorient objects. Orientation proves critical in how individuals comprehend information, how collaborators coordinate their actions, and how they mediate communication. The coordinating role of orientation is evident in how people establish personal and group spaces and how they signal ownership of objects. In terms of communication, orientation is useful in initiating communicative exchanges and in continuing to speak to individuals about particular objects and work patterns as collaboration progresses. The three roles of orientation have significant implications for the design of tabletop software and the assessment of existing tabletop systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Brinck, T. and L. Gomez (1992): A Collaborative Medium for the Support of Conversational Props. In J. Turner and R. Kraut (eds.): CSCW ‘92. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Toronto, Canada, October 31–November 4, 1992. New York: ACM Press, pp. 171–178.

  • de Bruijn, O. and R. Spence (2001): Serendipity Within a Ubiquitous Computing Environment: A Case for Opportunistic Browsing. In G. Abowd, B. Brumitt and S. Shafer (eds): Ubicomp ‘01. Proceedings of the Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, Atlanta, Georgia, September 30–October 2, 2001. New York: Springer, pp. 362–370.

  • H. Clark (1996) Using Language Cambridge University Press Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn, A. and S. Greenberg (1996): Children’s Collaboration Styles in a Newtonian Microworld. In M.J. Tauber (ed): CHI ‘96. Conference Companion of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vancouver, Canada, April 13–18, 1996. New York: ACM Press, pp. 181–182.

  • Deitz, P. and D. Leigh (2001): DiamondTouch: A Multi-User Touch Technology. In B. Schilit (ed.): UIST ‘01. Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Orlando, Florida, November 11–14, 2001. New York: ACM Press, pp. 219–226.

  • Fitzmaurice, G., R. Balakrishnan, G. Kurtenbach and B. Buxton (1999): An Exploration into Supporting Artwork Orientation in the User Interface. In M. Williams, M. Alton, K. Ehrlich and W. Newman (eds.): CHI ‘99. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 15–20, 1999. New York: ACM Press, pp. 167–174.

  • Y. Guiard (1987) ArticleTitleAsymmetric Division of Labor in Human Skilled Bimanual Action: The Kinematic Chain as a Model The Journal of Motor Behavior 19 IssueID4 486–517

    Google Scholar 

  • E. Hall (Eds) (1966) Distances in Man: The Hidden Dimension Double Day New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hancock, M. and K. Booth (2004): Improving Menu Placement Strategies for Pen Input. GI’04. Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Graphics Interface, London, Ontario, Canada, May 17–19, 2004. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Human–Computer Communications Society, pp. 221–230.

  • R. Jacob L. Sibert D. McFarlane M. Preston Mullen (1994) ArticleTitleIntegrality and Separability of Input Devices ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 1 IssueID1 3–26 Occurrence Handle10.1145/174630.174631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kruger, R. and S. Carpendale (2003): Exploring Orientation on a Table Display, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary. 2003-726–29.

  • Kruger, R. and S. Carpendale (2002): The e-Table: Exploring Collaborative Interaction on a Horizontal Display, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary. 2002-714–17.

  • R. Kruger S. Carpendale S. Greenberg (2002) Collaborating over Physical and Electronic Tables C. Neuwirth T. Rodden (Eds) CSCW ‘02. Conference Supplement for the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 16–20, 2002 New York ACM Press 139–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruger, R., S. Carpendale, S. Scott and S. Greenberg (2003): How People Use Orientation on Tables: Comprehension, Coordination, and Communication. In M. Pendergast, K. Schmidt, C. Simone and M. Tremaine (eds.): GROUP ‘03. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Supporting Group Work, Sanibel Island, Florida, November 9–12, 2003. New York: ACM Press, pp. 369–378.

  • Kruger, R., S. Carpendale, T. Tang and S. Scott (2004): Fluid Orientation on a Tabletop Display: Integrating Rotation and Translation, Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary: 2004-747-12.

  • Luff, P., C. Heath and D. Greatbatch (1992): Tasks-in-Interaction: Paper and Screen Based Documentation in Collaborative Activity. In J. Turner and R. Kraut (eds.): CSCW ‘92. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, Toronto, Canada, October 31–November 4, 1992. New York: ACM Press, pp. 163–170.

  • Magerkurth, C., R. Stenzel and T. Prante (2003): STARS–A Ubiquitous Computing Platform for Computer Augmented Tabletop Games. In J. Scott (ed): UbiComp ‘03. Video Track and Adjunct Proceedings of the Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, Seattle, Washington, October 12–15, 2003. New York: ACM Press, pp. 267–268.

  • D. Pinelle C. Gutwin S. Greenberg (2003) ArticleTitleTask Analysis for Groupware Usability Evaluation: Modeling Shared-Workspace Tasks with the Mechanics of Collaboration ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 10 IssueID4 281–311 Occurrence Handle10.1145/966930.966932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rekimoto, J. and M. Saitoh (1999): Augmented Surfaces: A Spatially Continuous Work Space for Hybrid Computing Environments. In M. Williams, M. Alton, K. Ehrlich and W. Newman (eds.): CHI ‘99. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 15–20, 1999. New York: ACM Press, pp. 378–385.

  • M. Ringel K. Ryall C. Shen C. Forlines F. Vernier (2004) Release, Relocate, Reorient, Resize: Fluid Techniques for Document Sharing on Multi-User Interactive Tables E. Dijkstra-Erickson M. Tscheligi (Eds) CHI ‘04. Extended Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vienna, Austria, April 24–29, 2004 ACM Press New York 1441–1444

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, S., K. Grant, and R. Mandryk. (2003): System Guidelines for Co-Located, Collaborative Work on a Tabletop Display. In K. Kuutti, E. Karsten, G. Fitzpatrick, P. Dourish, and K. Schmidt (eds.): Proceedings of ECSCW ‘03 (Helsinki, Finland, September 2003), Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 159–178.

  • S. Scott R. Mandryk K. Inkpen (2002) ArticleTitleUnderstanding Children’s Collaborative Interactions in Shared Environments Journal of Computer-Aided Learning 19 IssueID2 220–228 Occurrence Handle10.1046/j.0266-4909.2003.00022.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen, C., K. Everitt and K. Ryall (2003): UbiTable: Impromptu Face-to-Face Collaboration on Horizontal Interactive Surfaces. In A. Dey, A. Schmidt and J. McCarthy (eds.): UbiComp ‘03. Proceedings of the Conference on Ubiquitous Computing, Seattle, Washington, October 12–15, 2003. New York: Springer, pp. 281–288.

  • C. Shen N. Lesh B. Moghaddam P. Beardsley R. S. Bardsley (2001) Personal Digital Historian: User Interface Design J. Jacko A. Sears (Eds) CHI ‘01. Extended Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Seattle, Washington, March 31–April 5, 2001 ACM Press New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen, C., N. Lesh, F. Vernier, C. Forlines and J. Frost (2002): Building and Sharing Digital Group Histories. In C. Neuwirth and T. Rodden (eds.): CSCW ‘02. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 16–20, 2002. New York: ACM Press, pp. 324–333.

  • Shen, C., F. Vernier, C. Forlines and M. Ringel (2004): DiamondSpin: An Extensible Toolkit for Around-the-Table Interaction. In E. Dijkstra-Erickson and M. Tscheligi (eds.): CHI ‘04. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Vienna, Austria, April 24–29, 2004. New York: ACM Press, pp. 167–174.

  • K. Stathis O. de Bruijn S. Macedo (2002) ArticleTitleLiving Memory: Agent-Based Information Management for Connected Local Communities Interacting with Computers 14 IssueID6 663–688 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0953-5438(02)00014-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Streitz, N., J. Geißler, T. Holmer, S. Konomi, C. Mu¨ller-Tomfelde, W. Reischl, P. Rexroth, P. Seitz and R. Steinmetz (1999): i-LAND: An Interactive Landscape for Creativity and Innovation. In M. Williams, M. Alton, K. Ehrlich and W. Newman (eds.): CHI ‘99. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 15–20, 1999. New York: ACM Press, pp. 120–127.

  • N. Streitz P. Tandler C. Mu¨ller-Tomfelde S. Konomi (2001) Roomware: Towards the Next Generation of Human-Computer Interaction Based on an Integrated Design of Real and Virtual Worlds J.A. Carroll (Eds) Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millenium Addison-Wesley Reading, MA 553–578

    Google Scholar 

  • Tandler, P., T. Prante, C. Mu¨ller-Tomfelde, N. Streitz and R. Steinmetz (2001): ConnecTables: Dynamic Coupling of Displays for the Flexible Creation of Shared Workspaces. In B. Schilit (ed.): UIST ‘01. Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Orlando, Florida, November 11–14, 2001. New York: ACM Press, pp. 11–20.

  • J. Tang (1991) ArticleTitleFindings from Observational Studies of Collaborative Work International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 34 IssueID2 143–160 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0020-7373(91)90039-A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • E. Tse S. Greenberg (2002) SDGToolkit: A Toolkit for Rapidly Prototyping Single Display Groupware C. Neuwirth T. Rodden (Eds) CSCW ‘02. Conference Supplement for the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 16–20, 2002 ACM Press New York 173–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernier, F., N. Lesh and C. Shen (2002): Visualization Techniques for Circular Tabletop Interfaces. In M. De Marsico, S. Levialdi and E. Panizzi (eds.): AVI ‘02. Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces, Trento, Italy, May 22–24, 2002. New York: ACM Press, pp. 257–263.

  • Wang, Y., C. MacKenzie, V. Summers and K. Booth (1998): The Structure of Object Transportation and Orientation in Human-Computer Interaction. In C.-M. Karat, A. Lund, J. Coutaz, and J. Karat (eds.): Proceedings of CHI ‘98 (Los Angeles, CA, April 1998), New York: ACM Press, pp. 312–319.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4

    Russell Kruger, Sheelagh Carpendale, Stacey D. Scott & Saul Greenberg

Authors
  1. Russell Kruger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sheelagh Carpendale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stacey D. Scott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Saul Greenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sheelagh Carpendale.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kruger, R., Carpendale, S., Scott, S.D. et al. Roles of Orientation in Tabletop Collaboration: Comprehension, Coordination and Communication. Comput Supported Coop Work 13, 501–537 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-004-5062-8

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-004-5062-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation