COLLECTABLE

André Maximo
Maria Paula Saba

The collecTable is a practical implementation of a media organization software
using tabletop tangible interfaces, iTable for short. By exploring the natural movements
of of a person trying to organize his media, i.e. music discs, video tapes, photographs
and textbooks, we present a system to investigate this interaction in a digital environment
focused on music. We developed both software and hardware to provide a better media organization
experience. Our implementation is based on the Apple's iTunes(TM) software, and introduces
a tool for mining media data through a multi-dimensional chart.

In this work we explore the relation between digital and physical worlds by connecting tangible
objects, called fiducials, with digital music albums. In addition, we use these fiducials to
create different user profiles, allowing multiple users in the same iTable. We also discuss how
to expose information scattered in n-dimensions by using Cartesian graphics displayed on a
multi-dimensional chart, called M-Cube.