In this paper, a steerable, interactive projection display that has the shape of a disk is presented. Interactivity is provided through sensitivity to the contact of multiple fingertips and is achieved through the use of a RGBD camera. The surface is mounted on two gimbals which, in turn, provide two rotational degrees of freedom. Modulation of surface posture supports the ergonomy of the device but can be, alternatively, used as a means of user-interface input. The geometry for mapping visual content and localizing fingertip contacts upon this steerable display is provided, along with pertinent calibration methods for the proposed system. An accurate technique for touch detection is proposed, while touch detection and projection accuracy issues are studied and evaluated through extensive experimentation. Most importantly, the system is thoroughly evaluated as to its usability, through a pilot application that was developed for this purpose. We show that the outcome meets real-time performance, accuracy and usability requirements for employing the approach in human computer interaction.

This paper discusses a learner-centric approach towards supporting instructors on improving the learning process in ambient educational environments. The proposed system introduces an intelligent multi-agent infrastructure that monitors unobtrusively the students’ activities and notifies the teacher, in real-time, about potential learning weaknesses and pitfalls that need to be addressed. For that to be achieved several applications have been developed: (i) a real-time classroom activity visualizer, (ii) a behavioral reasoner that aims to identify common behaviors by analyzing classroom statistics records, and (iii) various mini-tools like the classroom attendance record, the schedule manager, etc. Following the system’s description, findings of the preliminary expert-based evaluation are presented and future extensions are proposed.

This paper presents an innovative application of ambient technology in the domain of tourism and leisure that aims to improve the quality of services offered by the hospitality industry. The main objective is to formulate an ambient ecosystem that observes its surroundings using non-invasive technology and adapts its behavior, in real-time, to deliver “intelligent” and personalized services to the occupants of a guest room. Towards that direction, the proposed system aims to leverage the disadvantages of being away from home and offer a unique user experience.

This paper presents an interactive desk that augments physical books that are placed upon its surface with multimedia content and interactive applications. Such content is dynamically displayed in augmentation to the currently open page of the book, that is, aligned in realtime with its 2D orientation upon the desk. The rendered applications are controlled by the users with the use of a stylus, both through contact with the book or desk, as well as, through a small vocabulary of gestures performed with the stylus. The evaluation of the accuracy, robustness, and performance of the proposed computer vision modules supporting this interaction are reported through quantitative experiments. In addition, the system usability was validated and the suitability of educational applications was explored through pilot applications, which include music and digital animation on pages, content-based multimedia presentation, context-based online search, as well as, note-taking through handwriting.

An active field of research today is the technological enrichment of everyday activities using augmented reality and ambient intelligence technologies. To this end, augmenting dinner tables is a challenging task, requiring a high-quality user experience unobtrusively supporting and enhancing the user’s main goal: eating and socializing. This work presents an augmented restaurant table, facilitating customers’ ordering and enhancing their experience through entertainment and socialization features, as well as through interaction with physical objects placed upon the table surface.

Touchless remote interaction empowers users to interact with systems at a distance without the burden of actually coming to physical contact with any tangible object. The research presented in this paper focuses on motion-based interaction in public spaces through hand detection using Microsoft’s Kinect, in order to allow natural interaction in mid-air. The paper presents the development of a system that allows browsing and exploring large collections of multimedia information (images and videos).

Augmented Reality environments have shown to be relevant and valuable in many instances of the educational process. Accounting for the advantages and conventional gains of learning through physical books and printed matter in general, this paper presents an approach towards augmenting both such media. This work has elementary school as a con-text and presents an approach towards augmenting a physical book and associated learning cards, with the purpose of providing a playful approach to learning the alphabet. The two principal activities involved in studying from an elementary school book are augmented: learning, during which the student receives information about letters, phonemes, and words, and practicing where questions are asked to the young student in order to consolidate the recently acquired knowledge. The proposed implementation is evaluated initially as to its performance and accuracy and then as to its usability and suitability for efficient and intuitive interaction.

This paper presents an innovative advergame installation for promoting the brand and products of a company producing Cretan rusks. The paper first presents some background and related work. Then, the requirements set towards creating the game are outlined, followed by concept creation and design decisions taken to meet these requirements, as well as a description of the user interface, gameplay and technical characteristics of the resulting game. The game has been installed with remarkable success in two different food exhibitions in key locations in Athens, Greece, where it has been played by more than 500 people of ages ranging from 2 to 76 years old. A large variety of qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The paper presents several findings stemming from these data. Additionally, changes made to the game as a result of the findings are presented, along with lessons learnt from the acquired experience.

This system paper describes two educational mini-games (a multiple-choice quiz and a geography-related game) that combine learning and ambient technology. Their innovative feature is that they offer physical interaction through printed cards on a tabletop setup, where a simple webcam monitors the table's surface and identifies the thrown cards. Following a brief discussion of ambient technology integration in the environment, the overall concept of these games is described and potential future improvements are outlined.

This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies in the context of child development, and presents the methodology and preliminary results of the development of an augmented interactive table which offers to preschool children various AmI educative and entertaining applications. The overall objective of this work is to assess how AmI technologies can contribute to the enhancement of children’s skills and abilities through common play activities during the various stages of their growth and development.