Group meetings and other non-desk situations require that people be able to interact at a distance from a display surface. This paper describes a technique using a laser pointer and a camera to accomplish just such interactions. Calibration techniques are given to synchronize the display and camera coordinates. A series of interactive techniques are described for navigation and entry of numbers, times, dates, text, enumerations and lists of items. The issues of hand jitter, detection error, slow sampling and latency are discussed in each of the interactive techniques.

The XWeb architecture delivers interfaces to a wide variety of interactive platforms. XWeb's SUBSCRIBE mechanism allows multiple interactive clients to synchronize with each other. We define the concept of Join as the mechanism for acquiring access to a service's interface. Join also allows the formation of spontaneous collaborations with other people. We define the concept of Capture as the means for users to assemble suites of interactive resources to apply to a particular problem. These mechanisms allow users to access devices that they encounter in their environment rather than carrying all their devices with them. We describe two prototype implementations of Join and Capture. One uses a Java ring to carry a user's identification and to make connections. The other uses a set of cameras to watch where users are and what they touch. Lastly we present algorithms for resolving conflicts generated when independent interactive clients manipulate the same information.

The XWeb project addresses the problem of interacting with services by means of a variety of interactive platforms.Interactive clients are provided on a variety of hardware/software platforms that can access and XWeb service.Creators of services need not be concerned with interactive techniques or devices.The cross platform problems of a network model of interaction, adaptation to screen size and supporting both speech and visual interfaces in the same model are addressed.