Screenless Interactive Tabletop Gaming with Capacitive Surface Sensing

• Many interactive systems that support tabletop games either augment the experience with additional elements or transform game components into digital counterparts, e.g., using mixed reality. However, as many users prefer tangible game elements, digital augmentations can disrupt the immersion they seek to enhance, often due to the complexity of the hardware used. Responding to this challenge, we designed a screenless interactive tabletop system with capacitive sensing. The system is suitable for novice players and provides automatic score-keeping. Our method eliminates the need for external sensors and retains all original game pieces intact. We evaluated our system in a study with a forest planting game (n = 20). Gameplay with our system exhibited shorter turn duration, and participants adopted more effective strategies than in traditional gameplay. These results underscore the potential of screenless interactive tabletops to amplify the gaming experience without causing distractions.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Människa-datorinteraktion (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Human Computer Interaction (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Tangibles

Machine Learning

Board Games

Touchscreen

Capacitive Sensing

3D Printing

Publication and Content Type

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