HATs: interact using height-adjustable tangibles in tabletop interfaces

We present Height-Adjustable Tangibles (HATs) for table-top interaction. HATs are active tangibles with 4 degrees of freedom that are capable of moving, rotating, and changing height. By adding height as an additional dimension for manipulation and representation, HATs offer more freedom to users than ordinary tangibles. HATs support bidirectional interaction, enabling them to reflect changes in the digital model via active visual feedback and to assist users via haptic feedback. A number of scenarios for using HATs are proposed, including interaction with complex and dependent models and applying HATs as tangible indicator widgets. We then introduce the implementation of HAT prototypes, for which we utilize motor-driven potentiometers to realize bidirectional interaction via the height dimension.

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