Tables Got Moves: A Review on Actuated Table Designs

Paper in proceeding, 2023

Most research on interactive table designs focuses on interactions with static digital tabletops. Relatively little research investigates the niche interactive tables with actuating capabilities. Such actuated tables' are tables that can physically move by changing their shape, orientation, or position. This paper aims to provide the HCI community with an overview on interactive actuated table research by reviewing literature that has appeared over the past decade. Our search resulted in a set of fifteen actuated table designs, which we reviewed with an emphasis on attributes related to the concept behind the table, the interactivity and form of the table, and the research approach used to study the table. Our analysis and results show that most tables offer adaptability, flexibility, and social mediation through their ability to actuate. We report on the four identified actuation forms' based on the various actuation styles found in current designs. We conclude by outlining gaps for future research, such as utilizing the expressivity that can be conveyed through the table's actuation as a design resource, and exploring more application areas that can benefit from the qualities of actuated tables.