System design for the WeSpace: Linking personal devices to a table-centered multi-user, multi-surface environment

The WeSpace is a long-term project dedicated to the creation of environments supporting walk-up and share collaboration among small groups. The focus of our system design has been to provide 1) groups with mechanisms to easily share their own data and 2) necessary native visual applications suitable on large display environments. Our current prototype system includes both a large high-resolution data wall and an interactive table. These are utilized to provide a focal point for collaborative interaction with data and applications. In this paper, we describe in detail the designs behind the current prototype system. In particular, we present 1) the infrastructure which allows users to connect and visually share their laptop content on-the-fly, and supports the extension of native visualization applications, and 2) the table-centric design employed in customized WeSpace applications to support cross-surface interactions. We will also describe elements of our user-centered iterative design process, in particular the results from a late-stages session which saw our astrophysicist participants successfully use the WeSpace to collaborate on their own real research problems.