Multimedia: Interactive touch-tables and large displays

This semester I'm taking a class in Human Computer Interaction and another class called "Ubiquitous Computing". I'm working on two projects that involve the use of interactive touch-screen displays. One is for travel-planning, and the other is for games that are located in social gathering places.

I've come across lots of interesting applications during the course of my research that I'd like to share on this blog. (Check back for more information!)

Right now, my dream is to get my hands on an interactive touch table that has multi-touch capability. The table needs to be wi-fi enabled, with an adjustable surface so that it can function horizantally, vertically, or in any position in between, like a drafting table.

Here is the "Multi-Touch Interaction Experiments" video demo of Jeff Han's work with a multi-touch interactive table/screen. I know this was included in an earlier post, but if you haven't seen it, you have to take a look!




Here is a link to Jeff Han's multi-touch wall, his latest work.

Stefano Baraldi's blog, "onthetabletop" is a good resource for people interested in interactive tables. He has a link to the recent Classroom of the Future conference, which focuses on collaborative learning spaces.

Here is one of Stefano Baraldi's demo videos:

Concept Matching



Working with photographs:



Here are more links about the use of interactive tables:

Interactive Tables: Supporting Collaborative Casual Learning

SIDES: A Cooperative Tabletop Computer Game for Social Skills Development


SIDES is a game that was designed for use on a MERL DiamondTouch tabletop. The researchers studied the use of social skills games for middle school students who have Asperger Syndrome.

Google Earth on a touch screen table - video demo

The interactive table used in this video demonstration is Diamond Touch, from MERL. In this application, navigation through Google Earth is controled through speech.

Here is a picture of how the table works:

If you are looking for good resources for teaching and learning math using technology, visit the Math Tools website.

Virtual Reality & Convergence with Game Technology

Virtual Reality is sometimes used to treat a variety of disorders. In the future, VR applications may be affordable for wider use in education. VR and computer/video game technologies are converging- expect amazing applications within the next 3-5 years for health, education, training, and more.

Dr. Skip Rizzo, a psychologist from USC 's Institute for Creative Technologies, specializes in VR. Dr. Rizzo presented "Gaming for Health: Virtual Reality Game-Based Applications for Mental Disorders and Rehabilitation." at the University of Southern California Games Summit in October 2005. A zipped version of his PowerPoint presentation is available.
According to information from the Integrated Media Systems Center website, "Prof. Rizzo is continuing his collaboration with IMSC investigators and described projects that integrate game technology in the areas of attention process assessment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, pain distraction for children undergoing painful medical procedures and chemotherapy,exposure therapy for returning Iraq War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and motor rehabilitation for persons with central nervous system dysfunction (i.e., stroke, brain injury). According to Rizzo, "the integration of game technology and experiences with virtual reality based approaches for clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation offers powerful options that could revolutionize standard practices in these fields."
Dr. Rizzo has been involved in The Virtual Classroom, A VR environment that assesses ADHD in children. For more information regarding the Virtual Classroom, see the full article(pdf).

There is an interesting article for students about the Virtual Classroom, "A Classroom of the Mind", by Emily Sohn, along with related activities, in Science News for Kids.

VR TREATMENT OF ANXIETY DISORDERS
Virtually Better (from website):

"Founded in 1996, Virtually Better is known world wide as an innovator in the creation of virtual reality environments for use in the treatment of anxiety disorders such as fear of flying, fear of heights, fear of public speaking as well as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)... Our on-site clinic is staffed by a team of licensed clinical psychologists devoted to using cognitive-behavioral techniques (including virtual reality exposure therapy) for the treatment of various disorders in both adults and children... Virtually Better grew from the collaborative research of Barbara O. Rothbaum, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Psychiatry, and Director of Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia and Larry F. Hodges, Ph.D., formerly with the Georgia Institute of Technology, and now Professor and Chair, Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte."

Related Information:
"The Virtual Reality Lab (VRlab), at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology has a collection of VR demonstrations, including the use of VR for social phobia.

A large selection of fairly recent, downloadable powerpoint presentations about the use of VR can be found on the Interactive Media Institute website.

Bill Mackenty's Ed. Tech. "How-to" and Games and Education Links, Edutopia, and FunBrain

Bill Mackenty is an educational technologist and teacher. His Games and Education site/blog provides good links, resources, and ideas, for those of you interested in this topic. Bill also has great "how-two" educational technology links. Share them with your colleagues!

Another resource is the FunBrain website. This site is a repository of learning games for students in grades K-8. The teacher resources page includes links to curriculum guides and McREL standards. There is also a parent resource page.

Keep up with news about engaged learning by subscribing to the newsletters from Edutopia. An article and short video about high school students studying animation with the support of professional animators through video-conferencing was recently added to the site.