TransWall: A transparent double-sided touch display

The TransWall turns a mundane glass wall into a multi-modal interpersonal communication medium.

Article  |  Fall 2014

Nowadays, imagining modern buildings without glass is difficult, and glass walls can be found almost everywhere around us. A glass wall’s transparency in modern architecture involves two contradictory characteristics: visual continuity and spatial discontinuity. Even though we can see everything through a glass wall, we are unable to hear the sounds or touch anything on the opposite side of the wall. Although a glass wall facilitates interpersonal communications beyond a partition, it simultaneously blocks deeper interactions.

Professor Woohun Lee’s Design Media Lab suggested the TransWall concept, which can turn a mundane glass wall into a richer interpersonal communication medium. In order to implement this idea, they made a see-through display wall touchable on both sides and added more interaction possibilities such as displaying audio and providing vibrotactile feedback. As a result, people can collaborate via a shared see-through display and communicate with one another by talking to or even touching one another through the wall. While using the TransWall, users stand face-to-face. This formation is quite distinct from general interactive tabletops or shared wall displays for collocated collaboration, where users typically sit or stand side-by-side. The TransWall is touch-sensitive on both sides so that two users can touch the same spot at the same time without any physical interference. When this happens, the TransWall provides users with specific visual, acoustic, and vibrotactile feedback, so that users feel as if they are touching one another.

The TransWall can be installed in the interior open spaces of buildings at sites such as shopping centers, museums, and theme parks. It is expected that while enjoying contents via the TransWall, people would have the opportunity to collaborate even with strangers in a natural way. In the near future, the TransWall can further be installed in places that require physical isolation for high security and safety—for instance, in a germ-free room in a hospital. The TransWall would allow patients to have fun with family and friends without risking being infected or spreading infections. Thus, this technology can be a smart solution that reconciles the trade-off between rich interpersonal communication and medical safety.

The project has been done in collaboration with Professor Geehyuk Lee’s HCI Lab. The TransWall has been exhibited at SIGGRAPH 2013 Emerging Technologies and selected as one of the show highlights. It was also presented at CHI 2014 Interactivity and featured in the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet.

Featured in season 1, episode 10 of “Around the Carillon”, the official KAIST podcast, available online at http://www.kaist.edu/html/en/news/podcast.html

Additional links for more information:
https://vimeo.com/95255716 (TransWall at CHI 2014 Interactivity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1QFXJFsd0s (Reuters TV)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GGP59S7T2k (Discovery Channel)