Supporting active reading on pen and touch-operated tabletops

Abstract

With the proliferation and sophistication of digital reading devices, new means to support the task of active reading (AR) have emerged. In this paper, we investigate the use of pen-and-touch-operated tabletops for performing essential processes of AR such as annotating, smooth navigation and rapid searching. We present an application to support these processes and then report on a user study designed to compare the suitability of our setup for three typical tasks against the use of paper media and Adobe Acrobat on a regular desktop PC. From this evaluation, we found out that pen and touch tabletops can successfully combine the advantages of paper and digital devices without their disadvantages. We however also learn from observations and participant feedback that there are still a number of hardware and software limitations that impede the user experience and hence need to be addressed in future systems. © 2012 ACM.