Greg Saul

Project Zanzibar: A Portable and Flexible Tangible Interaction Platform

We present Project Zanzibar: a flexible mat that can locate, uniquely identify and communicate with tangible objects placed on its surface, as well as sense a users touch and hover hand gestures. We describe the underlying technical contributions: efficient and localised Near Field Communication (NFC) over a large surface area; object tracking combining NFC signal strength and capacitive footprint detection, and manufacturing techniques for a rollable device form-factor that enables portability, while providing a sizable interaction area when unrolled. In addition, we detail design patterns for tangibles of varying complexity and interactive capabilities, including the ability to sense orientation on the mat, harvest power, provide additional input and output, stack, or extend sensing outside the bounds of the mat. Capabilities and interaction modalities are illustrated with self-generated applications. Finally, we report on the experience of professional game developers building novel physical/digital experiences using the platform.

Project Zanzibar Demonstration: A Portable and Flexible Tangible Interaction Platform

We demonstrate Project Zanzibar, a flexible mat that locates, uniquely identifies, and communicates with tangible objects placed on its surface, as well as senses a users touch and hover gestures. Zanzibar integrates efficient and localised Near Field Communication (NFC) over a large surface area; object tracking combining NFC signal strength and capacitive footprint detection. In a series of applications, we showcase Zanzibars capabilities of interacting with tangibles of varying complexity and interactive capabilities, sensing orientation on the mat, harvesting power, providing additional input and output, stack, or extend sensing outside the bounds of the mat.

Torino: A Tangible Programming Language Inclusive of Children with Visual Disabilities

Across the world, policy initiatives are being developed to engage children with computer programming and computational thinking. Diversity and inclusion has been a strong force in this agenda, but children with disabilities have largely been omitted from the conversation. Currently, there are no age appropriate tools for teaching programming concepts and computational thinking to primary school children with visual disabilities. We address this gap through presenting the design and implementation of Torino, a tangible programming language for teaching programming concepts to children age 7–11 regardless of level of vision. In this paper, we: (1) describe the design process done in conjunction with children with visual disabilities; (2) articulate the design decisions made; and (3) report insights generated from an evaluation with 10 children with mixed visual abilities that considers how children are able to trace (read) and create (write) programs with Torino. We discuss key design trade-offs: (1) readability versus extensibility; and (2) size versus liveness. We conclude by reflecting upon how an inclusive design approach shaped the final result.