A system and method for allowing for distributed interaction in a computing scenario is presented. The system is powered by SandTable software. First and Second items are respectively displayed on interactive screens of first and second surface computers. A first token is configured to be placed on the interactive screen of one of the computers and that computers reads its credentials. The SandTable software determines a first access level of the first token based on the credentials of the first token when it is placed on the surface computer. The first surface computer displays an image of an add item symbol when the first token is authenticated as a valid token. The SandTable software is configured to detect when the add item symbol is selected and to generate a menu of new items. SandTable creates a new item based on the new item selected from the menu.