An Augmented Reality Command and Control Sand Table Visualization on Top of an Advanced User Interface Display on Large Touch Table Interface

A prototyping user interface toolkit constitutes a software application for the design and development of futuristic stylized user interfaces for collaborative exploration and validation with regards to decision making and situational awareness. The initial hardware device were large screen touch tables for collaboration. In this work, Augmented Reality (AR) is examined to determine if this technology is useful for future development efforts. This work examines the development and evaluation of an AR-based virtual sand table presentation overlaid over a large touch table display with its own interface. This new way to present the same information allows for a unique collaborative setting to be evaluated as a potential future user interface. This is applied in the context of a group setting where users gather in the collaborative virtual space for decision making and situational awareness.