Multi-user, multi-display interaction with a single-user, single-display geospatial application

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss our adaptation of a single-display, single-user commercial application for use in a multi-device, multi-user environment. We wrap Google Earth, a popular geospatial application, in a manner that allows for synchronized coordinated views among multiple instances running on different machines in the same co-located environment. The environment includes a touch-sensitive tabletop display, three vertical wall displays, and a TabletPC. A set of interaction techniques that allow a group to manage and exploit this collection of devices is presented.