TIPTAB: A tangible interactive projection tabletop for virtual experiments

Virtual experiments are a new way of doing experiments. A visible difference between virtual and real experiments is the interaction mode. Such a difference causes unfamiliarity and induces unnecessary cognitive load and inefficiency during learning. The objective of the research is to reduce the interactive operation difference between virtual and real experiments as much as possible. TIPTAB, a tangible interactive projection tabletop, is proposed for virtual experiments. A depth camera is used to detect tangible objects in the real environment. These objects are printed by three-dimensional (3D) printers in advance and tracked in real-time. The tracked 3D poses are then used as inputs for further experiments. Both object textures and scene contents are augmented by projectors, and thus the virtual presentation of digital space is seamlessly registered and fused with physical space. An infrared (IR) camera and an IR transmitter are used to detect finger touch operations on the tabletop. During experimental learning, students can interact without wearing any devices as they do in real experiments, which greatly reduces their interaction burdens. Experimental results show that the proposed method is more efficient compared with other representative interaction methods. Based on the cognitive load theory and the statistical data, TIPTAB has a low cognitive load for students during virtual experiments. Questionnaire survey results also indicate that TIPTAB offers a good learning experience.