A computer-implemented method, comprising: detecting an action intended to control an application associated with a shared launch surface, the application being a video game, the shared launch surface being associated with a video game console (120; 400) on which the video game is running; associating the action with a body located in a field of view of a biometric sensor associated with a shared launch surface, where associating the action with the body comprises: identifying the action as a voice command or a gesture, or identifying a game controller on which the action was performed; identifying a location from which the voice command originated, at which the gesture was made, or at which the game controller was located; identifying a body corresponding to the location, and mapping the body corresponding to the location to the action; determining, using data provided by the biometric sensor, a biometric identity for the body, where determining the biometric identity includes performing, on a per-act basis, facial recognition, gesture recognition, voice recognition, fingerprint recognition, haptic recognition, or retinal recognition; attributing the action to a user as a function of the biometric identity; identifying a context associated with the user, and selectively controlling the application or the shared launch surface as a function of the action and the context, where selectively controlling the application or the shared launch surface comprises launching a second application using the context while preserving a first context associated with a first application running on the shared launch surface, without disrupting the video game in progress. detecting an action intended to control an application associated with a shared launch surface, the application being a video game, the shared launch surface being associated with a video game console (120; 400) on which the video game is running; associating the action with a body located in a field of view of a biometric sensor associated with a shared launch surface, where associating the action with the body comprises: identifying the action as a voice command or a gesture, or identifying a game controller on which the action was performed; identifying a location from which the voice command originated, at which the gesture was made, or at which the game controller was located; identifying a body corresponding to the location, and mapping the body corresponding to the location to the action; identifying the action as a voice command or a gesture, or identifying a game controller on which the action was performed; identifying a location from which the voice command originated, at which the gesture was made, or at which the game controller was located; identifying a body corresponding to the location, and mapping the body corresponding to the location to the action; determining, using data provided by the biometric sensor, a biometric identity for the body, where determining the biometric identity includes performing, on a per-act basis, facial recognition, gesture recognition, voice recognition, fingerprint recognition, haptic recognition, or retinal recognition; attributing the action to a user as a function of the biometric identity; identifying a context associated with the user, and selectively controlling the application or the shared launch surface as a function of the action and the context, where selectively controlling the application or the shared launch surface comprises launching a second application using the context while preserving a first context associated with a first application running on the shared launch surface, without disrupting the video game in progress.