A model for managing interactions between tangible and virtual agents on an RFID interactive tabletop: Case study in traffic simulation

Interactive tables are more frequently being suggested to support collaborative and co-localized applications. They can be tactile, tangible or mixed. New sensory entries enable users to manipulate different types of tangible objects. The purpose of this article is to propose a global interaction model that associates multiagent system concepts with interactive table entities. The model incorporates simultaneously usable entities: virtual and tangible entities. The virtual entities can be seen through video projection or the use of a screen integrated into the interactive table. The tangible entities are physical objects that can be manipulated by one or more users around the table. These objects are detected through dedicated sensors. A case study illustrates the proposal. The study incorporates the management of a road traffic simulator using the TangiSense interactive table; this table is equipped with RFID technology. The illustrations mainly show communication between the different agents involved in the simulation.