Thursday, May 11, 2006
Multi-Touch Display
Touch screen technology has been quite limited in the past. Essentially the technology is a single point sensing mechanism using a variety of methods from resistance, capacitance, etc. A few years ago, a product called the Lemur was announced. It is quite a cool piece of hardware that has dynamic displays using pre-defined objects and a multi-touch interface.
But the Cool Pick Of The Day goes to NYU's multi-touch display. (video here)
At New York University, a project lead by Jeff Han, uses a multi-touch technology known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection, a technique used in the biometrics community for fingerprint image acquisition. Their technique is also force-sensitive, which provides unprecedented resolution and scalability that allows creation of sophisticated multi-point objects that will be large enough to accommodate both hands and even multiple users. Coupled with the multi-touch force-sensitive technology is the fact they use back-projected imagery. The use of back-projection imagery opens up the possibility to create fluid dynamic interfaces instead of fixed pre-defined one like the Lemur uses.
Since this interface can accommodate multiple simultaneous inputs, applications can use input techniques such as chording and even more that two-handed motions. More than two-handed??? Yes, in other words, multiple people can interact on the same display.
Imagine the tactical capabilities of a interactive tabletop interface. Imagine the interactive possibilities for medical research, remote surgery, genetic research. Think of the possibilities for a musician, a composer, or a DJ. Consider the possibilities for engineers and how much faster they may be able to create new things. Now interfaces can be designed for teams instead of individuals. Imagine the interactive games with many people controlling a team of characters or one person controlling many characters using both hands simultaneously. 3D navigation, animation, creation of art, etc all become faster and easier to do.
This technology will change the world. There now will be the need for cooperative software interface modules and back-end clusterware. The clusterware opens up the realm of applications to include real time interaction or real time 3D world generation. This interface may never completely replace old analog mechanical devices such as knobs, sliders, and keys, but surely it will give them a run for their money. What definitely it will change is how we interact with computers AND each other for team interactive ventures.
But the Cool Pick Of The Day goes to NYU's multi-touch display. (video here)
At New York University, a project lead by Jeff Han, uses a multi-touch technology known as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection, a technique used in the biometrics community for fingerprint image acquisition. Their technique is also force-sensitive, which provides unprecedented resolution and scalability that allows creation of sophisticated multi-point objects that will be large enough to accommodate both hands and even multiple users. Coupled with the multi-touch force-sensitive technology is the fact they use back-projected imagery. The use of back-projection imagery opens up the possibility to create fluid dynamic interfaces instead of fixed pre-defined one like the Lemur uses.
Since this interface can accommodate multiple simultaneous inputs, applications can use input techniques such as chording and even more that two-handed motions. More than two-handed??? Yes, in other words, multiple people can interact on the same display.
Imagine the tactical capabilities of a interactive tabletop interface. Imagine the interactive possibilities for medical research, remote surgery, genetic research. Think of the possibilities for a musician, a composer, or a DJ. Consider the possibilities for engineers and how much faster they may be able to create new things. Now interfaces can be designed for teams instead of individuals. Imagine the interactive games with many people controlling a team of characters or one person controlling many characters using both hands simultaneously. 3D navigation, animation, creation of art, etc all become faster and easier to do.
This technology will change the world. There now will be the need for cooperative software interface modules and back-end clusterware. The clusterware opens up the realm of applications to include real time interaction or real time 3D world generation. This interface may never completely replace old analog mechanical devices such as knobs, sliders, and keys, but surely it will give them a run for their money. What definitely it will change is how we interact with computers AND each other for team interactive ventures.
# posted by TheGuardian : 9:02 PM
