Medusa: A Proximity-Aware Multi-touch Tabletop

(2011)

Abstract

We present Medusa, a proximity-aware multi-touch tab-letop. Medusa uses 138 inexpensive proximity sensors to: detect a user’s presence and location, determine body and arm locations, distinguish between the right and left arms, and map touch point to specific users and specific hands. Our tracking algorithms and hardware designs are de-scribed. Exploring this unique design, we develop and re-port on a collection of interactions enabled by Medusa in support of multi-user collaborative design, specifically within the context of Proxi-Sketch, a multi-user UI proto-typing tool. We discuss design issues, system implementa-tion, limitations, and generalizable concepts throughout the paper.