Organic Board Games with Tangible Tiles: interaction methods for small hexagonal tiles

Abstract

The keyboard and mouse have dominated human-computer interaction for over twenty years. Much effort has been made to break away from this paradigm by creating novel interaction systems and techniques. This thesis presents a system with small hexagonally shaped cardboard tiles called Organic Board Games, along with methods of interaction for these tiles. Tiles are used as a means for controlling and interfacing with abstract objects in a computer system. Particular attention is given to controlling games with the tiles, as some of the original motivation for the system was from the board game Settlers of Catan.

The many design considerations for Organic Board Games are discussed; prototype implementations that were constructed are presented and critiqued, and observations are made regarding these systems' applicability to interface design. Several proposals are presented for the system's evaluation and development beyond the example implementations.