Papers
	CHI 99 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA 15-20 May 1999 1999 AC 2152kb TouchCounters: Designing Interactive Electronic Labels for Physical Containers Paul Yarin and Hiroshi Ishii Tangible Media Group MIT Media Laboratory 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA {yarin, ishii}@media.mit.edu ABSTRACT We present TouchCounters, an integrated system of electronic modules, physical storage containers, and shelving surfaces for the support of collaborative physical work. Through physical sensors and local displays, TouchCounters record and display usage history information upon physical storage containers, thus allowing access to this information during the performance of real-world tasks. A distributed communications network allows this data to be exchanged with a server, such that users can access this information from remote locations as well. Based upon prior work in ubiquitous computing and tangible interfaces, TouchCounters incorporate new techniques, including usage history tracking for physical objects and multi-display visualization. This paper describes the components, interactions, implementation, and conceptual approach of the TouchCounters system.