Part of building a multi touch gaming table is constructing the frame. You could of course adapt an existing table or have a table created for you by a local joiner, but I opted for the "difficult" way: building the frame myself.
I started of by drawing a couple of sketchy building plans. These were mostly based on the idea I had locked away in my head and on the model I created earlier. Now here's the fun bit... any rear projection based MT table needs to have a certain amount of clearance between the projection surface and the beamer. The minimum distance I could find was 50 centimeters. The rub is, I didn't actually check if I could squeeze it all in.
I think it will work, hey... life's tough and worst-case scenario, I'll have to partly redo the table. Oh well, not there yet.
Actually putting this thing together wasn't a whole lot of work. I based my design around a standard size piece of wood from the local DIY store. All measurements are adjusted from there, except for the hole left in the table top. That's of course sized to fit the screen.
Most of the stuff is just sawing in appropriate lengths, making sure the saw cuts are perpendicular and straight. The rest is gluing the stuff together and adding an occasional screw or metal plate for added stability and stiffness.
The last step will be to add the outer skin which will likely just be multiplex boards which are then painted over. I'll probably leave the table top as is, except for some varnish to make it more resistant to stains and dents. I'm leaving the table top lying loose on the top of the table so I'll have easy access to the innards in the future. I'll also leave the projection screen lying loose in the table top so I can remove that separately if needed.
Anyway, here's the photo's:
Costs so far:
- PS3 webcam: +/- € 40,-
- Wood, etc.: +/- € 100,-
- Plexiglas 7D006: +/- € 145,-
(Projection screen cut to size - 776mm x 588mm x 5mm) - Manhours: +/- 25 hours