Understanding tabletop collaborative interaction using hierarchy model

The area of human-computer interaction attracting research interest has evolved from one person with one computer, to individuals and groups collaborating with others supported by computers. In collaboration process, individual's information, knowledge and understanding are shared to all participants with collaborative interaction, and this is clearly a social process. In this paper, the social layer was added to the physical layer, information layer and cognitive layer to constitute a four-layer hierarchy model. This model is used to understand collaborative interaction. And as a case study, the multi-touch tabletop collaborative interaction was analyzed. The purpose of the model is to help understanding the collaborative interaction activity, and the understanding will assist people to design and implement collaborative interaction system.