HoVerTable PONG: Playing Face-to-face Game on Horizontal Tabletop with Moving Vertical Mid-air Image

Abstract

In face-to-face situations, tabletop displays have been used to share information among multiple users. The use of mid-air images is promising for using the space above a tabletop. However, in our previous research, the mid-air images on a tabletop were fixed in the depth direction. To design a digital PONG-like game, the mid-air image needs to move freely horizontally on the table. On the basis of this previous research, we designed a mid-air imaging tabletop display system to show a moving vertical mid-air image. However, the optical design of the system causes through light when moving an image, which is undesirable. This is due to the behavior of the imaging device/aerial-imaging plate. We propose an improved design of our mid-air imaging tabletop display system for playing face-to-face digital games. There were two requirements we had to meet to improve upon the previous system: moving a displayed dual-sided vertical mid-air image and blocking through light. To display a vertical mid-air image to two people, we use an optical imaging device and a dual-sided display, like the previous optical design. To move this image, an XY-table is placed