Wireless object tracking platform for tangible user interfaces

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-110).Sensetable is a system that electromagnetically tracks the positions and orientations of multiple wireless objects on a tabletop display surface. The system offers two types of improvements over existing tracking approaches such as computer vision. First, the system tracks objects quickly and accurately without susceptibility to occlusion or changes in lighting conditions. Second, the tracked objects have state that can be modified by attaching physical dials and modifiers. The system can detect these changes in real-time. I present several new interaction techniques developed in the context of this system. Finally, I present several applications of the system, the most thoroughly developed of which is system dynamics simulation.by James McMichael Patten.S.M