Escaping the Trough: Towards Real-World Impact of Tabletop Research

ABSTRACT

In the past decade, there has been increasing interest in studying tabletop technologies in HCI. Using the Gartners Hype Cycle as an analytical framework, this article presents developments in tabletop research within the last decade. The objective is to determine the level of maturity of tabletop technologies with respect to the research foci and the extent to which tabletops have shown their worth in real world settings. We identify less studied topics in the current body of literature with the primary aim of evoking further discussions of the current and future research challenges. We analyzed 542 research publications and categorized these according to eight types of research foci. Findings show that only 3% of all studies are conducted in natural settings, i.e. there is a clear tendency to emphasize laboratory evaluations of tabletop technology. Also, very few studies demonstrate relative benefits of tabletops over other technologies in collaborative settings (1%). We argue for a need to increase emphasis on understanding real-world use and impact rather than developing new tabletop technologies.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Mikael Skov and Dr. Erik Frøkjær for their valuable critique of our study.

Supplemental Data

Supplemental material for this article can be accessed on the publisher's website.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anders Bruun

Anders Bruun is Associate Professor in HCI at the Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University (Denmark). Research interests include theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of measuring UX in real-time. He has also worked as a UX consultant in the software industry with managing UX of small and large scale projects.

Kenneth Eberhardt Jensen

Kenneth Eberhardt Jensen is a Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultant at Massive Dynamics IsV. He obtained a Masters degree in software engineering in 2013 at Aalborg University (Denmark). He’s main research interests include usability evaluation, interaction design and usability of mobile devices.

Dianna Hjorth Kristensen

Dianna Hjorth Kristensen is Web Developer at DanDomain A/S. She obtained her MSc in Computer Software Engineering in 2013 from Aalborg University (Denmark). Before university she graduated as Multimedia Designer in 2008. Her main interests are Web development and HCI.

Jesper Kjeldskov

Jesper Kjeldskov is Professor of Computer Science at Aalborg University in Denmark within the area of HCI. Jesper’s research focus is on mobile and ubiquitous technologies. He has published more than 130 journal and conference articles, and has recently been awarded the degree of Doctor of Science (higher doctorate).