In-place Annotation of Physical Objects with Pico- Projectors

Just as we annotate digital documents with digital annotations for collaborative work, we frequently annotate physical objects using physical annotations (e.g. by using Post-It notes). In the physical world, we are limited by the size of the physical Post-It note, and further, too many Post-It notes clutter the physical space. In this work, we explore the use of handheld projectors combined with a tablet to create digital annotations for physical objects, and to visualize these annotations around such physical objects. Our design allows people to use a flashlight metaphor for visualizing digital “post-it” notes, which can be created in-place by pointing the projector at an object, and then adding the annotation using the tablet. We realized this design in a prototype to informally assess the effectiveness of the metaphors we used, and to gather suggestions for future work in this area.