Papers
	CSCW '98 The 1998 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work Seattle, Washington USA 14-18 November 1998 1998 AC 241kb Tangible Interfaces for Remote Collaboration and Communication Scott Brave, Hiroshi Ishii, and Andrew Dahley Tangible Media Group MIT Media Laboratory 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA {brave, ishii, andyd}@media.mit.edu ABSTRACT Current systems for real-time distributed CSCW are largely rooted in traditional GUI-based groupware and voice/video conferencing methodologies. In these approaches, interactions are limited to visual and auditory media, and shared environments are confined to the digital world. This paper presents a new approach to enhance remote collaboration and communication, based on the idea of Tangible Interfaces, which places a greater emphasis on touch and physicality. The approach is grounded in a concept called Synchronized Distributed Physical Objects, which employs telemanipulation technology to create the illusion that distant users are interacting with shared physical objects. We describe two applications of this approach: PSyBench, a physical shared workspace, and inTouch, a device for haptic interpersonal communication.