⛺️ 👏🏾 🏇🏽 How to make an interactive table with a working surface in the form of a circle? 👨🏽‍🤝‍👨🏼 🛫 🤹🏿

In view of my love for solving non-standard problems, I want to share with my readers the development of a solution - an interactive round table in a media museum. Perhaps some of you will need this option.

Background - the customer, together with the designers, worked out a solution where the pieces of furniture in the room have a round, cylindrical, round, in extreme cases, oval shape. Accordingly, multimedia equipment should also be consistent with the concept and have a rounded shape, where possible. In one of the areas of the room interactive round tables were provided. But it’s one thing to draw them in a design project, and another thing to realize.

To make it beautiful, functional and inexpensive

When you are looking for a solution to a non-standard problem, the question of price does not always come first, but nevertheless does not lose its importance. Therefore, you have to look for various options that the customer will ultimately approve according to a number of criteria: style, functionality and cost.

Table design

A table - with all its apparent simplicity, it is, in fact, a set of the following devices:

Based on existing technologies in multimedia equipment, we get the following options. Of the main details of the design of the table, the differences are the display medium and the sensor film (in some cases, an IR frame).

Option 1 - “16: 9 Display + Rectangular Film”

A simple way is to use a conventional 16: 9 format display with a touch film or an interactive display.

pros	Minuses
Simplicity of "assembly"; The ability to apply a ready-made interactive model; A wide selection of models on a diagonal; The choice of interactive technology (touch-capacitive, IR frame and others); “Open frame” -constructions (without the case and with fastening elements “under the insert”); Cost.	The table is round, but the image and the interactive part are only on the surface of the display; If you do not use a protective glass, there will be a gap (for dust) between the embedded panel and the table surface, not aesthetically pleasing.

Option 2 - “1: 1 display + rectangular film”

An easy way, but a little more interesting, is to use a 1: 1 (square) display with a touch film.

As far as I know, 22 ”square matrices were manufactured by Samsung UD22B and are still produced by Leyard Planar AD22 with screen sizes of 387.4 x 387.4 mm and physical dimensions of 395 x 395 mm.

pros	Minuses
Simplicity of "assembly"; Unusual display format can attract attention (subjective opinion); The choice of interactive technology (touch-capacitive, IR frame and others); Cost is a moot point (since there is only one manufacturer, then the cost can be great).	The range of models starts and ends at 22 ”; The table is round, but the image and the interactive part are only on the surface of the display; If you do not use a protective glass, there will be a gap (for dust) between the embedded panel and the table surface, not aesthetically pleasing.

Option 3 - “Projector + Rectangular Film”

A difficult way, but the image will be in the form of a circle - use a short-focus projector, projection and touch films.

The goal is to display the image (content) on the entire area of the circle, and place the film as much as possible in the area of the circle.

pros	Minuses
The projection of the image on the entire area of the circle; Unusual display format can attract attention (subjective opinion); Cost.	Difficulty in selecting and placing a short-focus projector; Limited dimensions of the design of the table due to the peculiarities of the selection and placement of the projector and lens; The brightness and color saturation is not as "strong" as when using LCD panels, as a result - you have to damp the light in the area where the table is located in order to achieve the "juiciness" of the transmitted picture; The interactive part is only on the surface of the sensor film - you need the "right" content. You can use an IR camera at the base of the table, however, after the experience gained, there is no desire to repeat the previous “successes”.

pros

Minuses

The projection of the image on the entire area of the circle;
Unusual display format can attract attention (subjective opinion);
Cost.

Difficulty in selecting and placing a short-focus projector;
Limited dimensions of the design of the table due to the peculiarities of the selection and placement of the projector and lens;
The brightness and color saturation is not as "strong" as when using LCD panels, as a result - you have to damp the light in the area where the table is located in order to achieve the "juiciness" of the transmitted picture;
The interactive part is only on the surface of the sensor film - you need the "right" content.
You can use an IR camera at the base of the table, however, after the experience gained, there is no desire to repeat the previous “successes”.

Option 4 - “projector + film in the form of a circle”

Option using a short throw projector, projection and round interactive film.

As far as I know, only the Portuguese company Displax Round Skin produces such films ; I could not find other manufacturers.

The goal is to make an interactive round table: display the image (content) on the entire area of the circle and apply a capacitive touch film in the form of a circle.

pros	Minuses
The projection of the image on the entire area of the circle; The interactive function works on the entire area of the circle; Unusual display format can attract attention (subjective opinion); Cost - as with a square display, this is a controversial point (it is difficult to assess due to the lack of analogues).	Difficulty in selecting and placing a short-focus projector; Limited dimensions of the design of the table due to the peculiarities of the selection and placement of the projector and lens; The brightness and color saturation is not as "strong" as when using LCD panels, as a result - you have to damp the light in the area where the table is located in order to achieve the "juiciness" of the transmitted picture; The interactive surface of the table will require a small border around the circumference (≈60 mm).

pros

Minuses

The projection of the image on the entire area of the circle;
The interactive function works on the entire area of the circle;
Unusual display format can attract attention (subjective opinion);
Cost - as with a square display, this is a controversial point (it is difficult to assess due to the lack of analogues).

Difficulty in selecting and placing a short-focus projector;
Limited dimensions of the design of the table due to the peculiarities of the selection and placement of the projector and lens;
The brightness and color saturation is not as "strong" as when using LCD panels, as a result - you have to damp the light in the area where the table is located in order to achieve the "juiciness" of the transmitted picture;
The interactive surface of the table will require a small border around the circumference (≈60 mm).

Interactive table "assembled" (with permission of the manufacturer).

Option 5 - “Thoughts aloud about a possible perspective”

Perhaps in the foreseeable future, if we take the technology of LED screens as the basis of the display device, with specially ordered screens in the form of a circle and a small pitch to achieve a high resolution image that the human eye can perceive at close range, this will be a really cool solution. Bright, rich picture, plus interactive features. Perhaps, perhaps the cost will be extremely high.

How to make an interactive table with a working surface in the form of a circle?