The effects of interaction technique on coordination in tabletop groupware

The interaction techniques that are used in tabletop groupware systems (such as pick-and-drop or pantograph) can affect the way that people collaborate. However, little is known about these effects, making it difficult for designers to choose appropriate techniques when building tabletop groupware. We carried out an exploratory study to determine how several different types of interaction techniques (pantograph, telepointers, radar views, drag-and-drop, and laser beam) affected coordination and awareness in two tabletop tasks (a game and a storyboarding activity). We found that the choice of interaction technique significantly affected coordination measures, performance measures, and preference - but that the effects were different for the two different tasks. Our study shows that the choice of tabletop interaction technique does indeed matter, and provides insight into how tabletop systems can better support group work.