Objects are tagged with RFID tags. When one of the objects is placed on the coffee table, they are sensed by the tag reader, which uniquely identifies each object. The tag reader is polled regularly by the computer to check if any items have been added or removed. Such events cause messages to be sent to the coffee table in the remote partner’s living space. The remote coffee table displays a corresponding representation of the opposite person’s activity and their overall daily cycle on the surface of the table, using an appropriately mounted video projector. When items are removed, the displaying coffee table gradually fades away that representation.
Source: Patel, D. and Agamanolis, S. 2003. Habitat: Awareness of life rhythms over a distance using networked furniture. In Adjunct Proceedings of UbiComp 5th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing. 5–6.
http://web.media.mit.edu/~stefan/hc/projects/habitat/
