tabletis

Tabletis is a fictional class of interactive tabletop systems used in speculative design and science fiction to imagine collaborative work environments. In its prototypical form, a tabletis surface is a modular, touch-enabled workspace that can be expanded with detachable panels, sensors, and projection units. The name Tabletis blends the English word table with a Latin-like suffix to evoke a systematic, tabular technology.

Tabletis devices typically support multi-user interaction, gesture and stylus input, and real-time data synchronization across connected modules. Software stacks emphasize openness: pluggable data sources, versioned canvases, and granular access control to support group work, teaching, or design review. Peripheral modules may include robotic actuators, measurement rigs, or AR/VR projection for layered information.

Origins of the concept lie in design fiction and academic exercises from the 2010s onward. While widely discussed in speculative design circles and some pedagogy, there is no mass-market product named tabletis; it remains a hypothetical reference model used to compare tangible interfaces with traditional screens.

Common use cases include architectural planning sessions, classroom collaboration, product development workshops, and interactive tabletop gaming. Future directions in fiction explore autonomous reconfiguration, AI-assisted ideation, and scalable networks of linked tabletis surfaces that maintain shared context across rooms.