My research on surface computing explores the use of horizontal interactive displays for a variety of entertainment, educational, and productivity applications. My Ph.D. dissertation, "Supporting Effective Interaction with Tabletop Groupware", introduced novel interaction techniques and compared interface designs for supporting co-located group work around computer-augmented tables. Since completing my Ph.D., I have continued to conduct surface research; currently, my research focuses on studying the use of surface computing systems for productivity tasks and on making touch interactions more accessible to blind users.

I am program co-chair for the 2012 ACM conference on Interactive Tabletops & Surfaces (ITS 2012), which will be held in Cambridge, MA.

Accessibility of surfaces

• touch interactions for blind users [UIST 2011 paper]

Surfaces for productivity tasks

• collaborative Web search on surfaces [CSCW 2010 paper and video] [IP&M article on surface + search design space ]
• collaborative visual analytics on surfaces [VAST 2010 paper]
• surface support for software engineering meetings (Code Space) [ITS 2011 paper] [ Video ]
• surface computing to support collaborative design teams (Pictionaire) [ CSCW 2010 paper]
• augmenting tables with mice and keyboards (FourBySix) [ UIST 2009 paper ]
• improving the precision of input on touch-tables [ CHI 2009 paper ]
• study of the usability of horizontal surfaces for active reading tasks [ Tabletop 2007 paper ]
• study of the usability of horizontal surfaces for office workers [ Tabletop 2008 paper ]
• DocuDesk, a surface system for helping office workers manage relationships between paper and digital content [ Tabletop 2008 paper ]
• Survey on current uses of interactive surfaces and directions for further research [ 2009 Tech Report ]

Educational applications of surface computing

• interfaces to promote equitable participation by students during educational group work [ IEEE CG&A paper ]
• SIDES: a tabletop game for social skills development aimed at youth with Asperger's syndrome [ CSCW 2006 paper ]

Access control and coordination on multi-user surfaces

• iDwidgets: identity-differentiating widgets [ IEEE CG&A paper ]
• Coordination Policies [ CSCW 2004 paper ]
• Techniques for document sharing on tabletop displays [ CHI 2004 paper ]

Space management on multi-user surfaces

• Drawers: hybrid tangible/virtual storage spaces for interactive tables [ Ubicomp 2006 poster ]
• TeamTag: a study comparing shared vs. distributed widget placement on tabletops [ CHI 2006 paper ]
• Individual audio channels to provide private feedback [ CSCW 2004 paper ]

Gesture interfaces for surfaces

• ShadowGuides: a technique for teaching users about available gestures and how to perform them [Tabletop 2009 paper]
• User-Defined Gestures: a gesture set (and gesture elicitation methodology) that creates gestures based on the wisdom of crowds [ CHI 2009 paper ] [ Graphics Interface 2010 paper ]
• Cooperative Gestures: multi-user gestural interactions for tabletop displays [ CHI 2006 paper ]
• Barehands: a system for enabling gestures on a large, wall-mounted surface [ CHI 2001 paper ]

Miscellaneous surface computing projects

• Ambient Table: a tabletop peripheral display [ Ubicomp 2004 poster ]
• DiamondSpin: a Java toolkit for creating tabletop UIs [ CHI 2004 paper ]  [ free download ]
• study of the impact of group size and table size on tabletop interactions [ CSCW 2004 paper ]