Filed under: Displays

In a fashion not dissimilar from one tiny multitouch device (save the outcry), Microsoft’s large multitouch device — the Surface — will be getting its very own SDK at Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference this month. The package, which the folks in Redmond have apparently been promising since April, will introduce developers to “vision-based object recognition” and something called ScatterView, and a session at the PDC will detail how the kit “aligns with the multitouch developer roadmap for Windows 7.” All exciting stuff, but if we don’t see a giant, multitouch version of FreeCell soon, we might just stop paying attention.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Panasonic_s_EZ_Touch_multitouch_remote_control_concept’; Panasonic is looking to reinvent the remote control with its EZ Touch Remote prototype that it is showing off here at CEATEC. Rather than rely on a touch-screen interface that forces one to look down at a remote (and away from the object of one’s entertainment), the concept puts the visual feedback where it belongs: on the screen. The remote can sense left- or right-handed users and adjust the interface appropriately, moving important triggers around based on where one’s thumb may (or may not) be. Dual touch pads allow for multitouch data entry and zoom manipulation, while gestures allow for quick scrolls, making this one of the most intuitive and drool-worthy remote controls we’ve seen in a while, or ever. We’re so into it that we’ve provided a full gallery and three videos after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic’s EZ Touch multitouch remote control concept hands-on and video

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Oh sure, we’ve known that mice were going the way of the Dodo for eons now, but a nice compilation over at Wired details just how close we are to relying on brain scanners and fingercams (among other unorthodox input methods) to do everything from play games to flip through photo albums. For instance, at Drexel University’s RePlay Lab, students are currently “trying to measure the level of neurotransmitters in a subject’s brain to create games where mere thought controls gameplay.” Another example of how fingers are better used away from the left / right click is FingerSight, a technology that would enable cursor inputs to be, um, inputted by simply waving one’s hand around. Unfortunately, the reality of all of this fantastic research is that we’re still years away from pushing the fabled keyboard / mouse combo aside, but you aren’t apt to find any FPS fanatics kvetching about that.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Displays

Microsoft had better hurry and get more than one Surface rig out on the market, because there are plenty of other companies working on large-format multitouch hardware — the latest is Finland’s Multitouch Oy, which recently demoed its Cell display for jkkmobile. Just the usual photo pinching demo, but it’s running at an impressively fluid 60fps on desktop hardware, even with multiple users. Multitouch Oy says it’ll run about $7,000 for a 32-inch model when it hits — yeah, we’ll stick with the DIY kit for now. Video after the break.

[Via jkkmobile]

Continue reading Multitouch Oy demos Cell multitouch display

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

You’ve got to feel bad for the vendors at the Sign and Display Show 2008 that’s going on in Tokyo right now for being totally overshadowed by IFA, but this nifty dual-sided transparent touch display from Teraokaseiko is definitely noteworthy, even if it just because it’ll make future versions of Battleship and Connect 4 super fun. It’s just a monochrome 256 x 120 EL-panel prototype for now, but it recognizes simple multitouch gestures like pinching, and there’s definitely promise in the idea — now if it could make it out of the Sign and Display Show and into the big leagues, we’d be all set.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Trying to divine what Apple’s up to from patent applications is never easy, but every now and again the diagrams actually make it obvious — and it looks like Steve and his elves are hard at work on large-format touch interfaces, possibly for a tablet Mac of some kind. The latest touch-related filing is some 52 pages long and details everything from working with multiple finger inputs to onscreen keyboards how window controls would work, but we’re mostly transfixed by the claw-like demon-hands that seem to be operating all this kit — apparently Apple engineers have the same nightmares as the rest of us. If we had to bet, we’d say that a tablet Mac is still a long ways off, but we’ve been wrong before — and there’s always a chance Steve’s got something wild in store for next month.

[Via AppleInsider]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Trying to divine what Apple’s up to from patent applications is never easy, but every now and again the diagrams actually make it obvious — and it looks like Steve and his elves are hard at work on large-format touch interfaces, possibly for a tablet Mac of some kind. The latest touch-related filing is some 52 pages long and details everything from working with multiple finger inputs to onscreen keyboards how window controls would work, but we’re mostly transfixed by the claw-like demon-hands that seem to be operating all this kit — apparently Apple engineers have the same nightmares as the rest of us. If we had to bet, we’d say that a tablet Mac is still a long ways off, but we’ve been wrong before — and there’s always a chance Steve’s got something wild in store for next month.

[Via AppleInsider]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The creative cats and kittens at Obscura Digital have put together a stunning piece of performance art / data manipulation demo which combines their proprietary multi-touch software with Musion’s Eyeliner 3D holographic projection system. Like that BMW installation we saw recently, this is one of those odd combinations of technology and art which is best seen in action rather than described — so check out the video after the break and see the work in all its mind-bending glory.

Continue reading Obscura Digital projects multi-touch “hologram,” blows all sorts of minds

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Laptops

Imagine if you could attach a physical knob, slider, or switch to any application which called for some tactile interaction (say a music app like Live or Logic). That concept is exactly what led Lyndsay Williams to create the SenseSurface — a modular system that allows you to literally stick a controller onto a display when you need it. The devices use an X/Y matrix on the backside of a typical laptop display coupled with custom designed movement sensors. Lyndsay claims that the apparatus is multitouch and low friction, leaves no marks, is programmable, scaleable, and limited only by the size of the screen. The cost? Less than $100 in production. Take a look at a prototype of the system on video after the break, and hit the read link for more detail.

[Via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Continue reading SenseSurface sticks knobs onto screens, turns virtual controls physical

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones

Call us loony, but it sure seems like Nokia’s heralded N95 ends up in the middle of quite a few DIY endeavors. Sure enough, said mobile is at the heart of Sittiphol Phanvilai’s latest project: NeuScreen. Put as simply as possible, the project creates a multi-touch engine for the N95, and in the demonstration waiting after the jump, a simple pen light is used to control objects on a TV screen that is connected to the aforementioned handset. Confused? Give the video a look, that always clears things right up.

[Thanks, Moses]

Continue reading NeuScreen multi-touch screen engine shown on Nokia N95

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/Microsoft_shows_off_Multitouch_Windows_7′; Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer got on stage at D6 with Walt and Kara to talk… Microsoft, of course. While the company is still being rather coy about Windows 7 — some have blamed loose lips early on in Vista development for saddling the OS with too high of expectations and making things difficult for developers — they were nice enough to show off what Ballmer called “the smallest snippet” of Windows 7. The big reveal was multi-touch support, which utilizes technology developed by the Surface team. The taskbar seems to have been reworked a bit, and the demo was running live on a Dell Latitude XT tablet. Apparently Microsoft is reworking the whole user interface with a multitouch experience in mind. Steve reiterated the “three years after Vista” mantra for availability. Not exactly earth-shattering, but we’ll take what we can get at this point.

Update: Video added after the break. Enjoy! [Thanks, Dan Z.]

Continue reading Microsoft shows off “snippet” of Windows 7 at D6, reveals multi-touch support

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays, Laptops

PixelQi, an OLPC project spin-off headed by Mary Lou Jepsen, certainly has its work cut out for it with the OLPC XO-2, due in 2010. Not only is the laptop supposed to support dual touchscreens and consume a mere 1 watt of power, but Mary Lou is also promising better readability, multitouch, and potentially even pen usage and haptic feedback. Interestingly, the projected price for the laptop is $75, which is exactly the pricepoint PixelQi claimed to be working on when it split from the foundation. She remains coy on which OS the new laptop will favor, merely stating: “The display can use whatever software OLPC chooses.” As for partners outside of OLPC, Mary Lou won’t name names, but she says PixelQi is “working with large, tier-one laptop, cell phones, and e-book makers.” Forget 2010, give us a full color e-book tablet by the end of the year and we’ll forget all this XO nonsense entirely.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

We’ll go ahead and get this out of the way: the fantastic product you’re about to hear more on has “no plans” to go commercial. Now that we’ve thoroughly killed your buzz, let us introduce to you the LaserTouch. Said device is a prototype that recently emerged from Microsoft Research’s labs, which essentially allows people to retrofit any display (monitor, projector, etc.) so that they can use their own hands to control the on-screen action. According to Andy Wilson, who played a vital role in the unit’s creation, an infrared camera is used to track how a person touches the screen, while software that he developed handles the majority of the magic. Too bad this could totally undercut Surface sales, right?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

It seems like the multi-touch revolution that’s happening right now is really bringing out the DIY’ers — and this latest feat of hackery is right up there with the best of them. Christopher Jette has created a massive, 56-inch multi-touch display in his spare time using a old rear-projection TV, 168 infrared LEDs, and some serious elbow grease. The LEDs dot the perimeter of the screen and create a field of IR light which is scattered when touched, a webcam mounted at the back of the display picks up the movement and translates it to input. If you’ve got some time on your hands, there are instructions available for recreating the experiment, or you can just sit back and watch it in action in the video after the break.

[Via Hack a Day]

Continue reading DIY’er creates 56-inch multi-touch display

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

Continue reading N-trig shows off pen input-capable DuoSense multi-touch display

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Honestly, we’re exhausted by the sheer magnitude of 3G iPhone chatter swamping the rumor channels (and our inbox). Nevertheless, it would be a disservice to you, dear reader, if we let this one slide without comment. The perennial Apple touchscreen tablet rumor was given a fresh polish yesterday by Intel’s chief German Burgermeister. Hannes Schwaderer stated unequivocally that Apple would be using the new Intel Atom processor in a “future iPhone” which is slightly larger than the existing model due to a larger display. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Intel has openly discussed Apple’s plans to develop products based on Intel’s Centrino Atom, Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform. And as MacRumors and AppleInsider point out, an older rumor calls for a new multi-touch Apple tablet to launch mid-year with a 720 x 480 display on a device said to be about 1.5x the size of the current iPhone. With Intel officially launching Atom in June and Jobs’ next keynote scheduled for June 9th… well, it wouldn’t surprise us to see Otellini riding a chocolate pony on stage with a multi-touch Newton in hand. Actually, that would be surprising.

[Via MacRumors and AppleInsider]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

What could make a game of Missile Command more exciting? If you said playing it on a gigantic multi-touch screen, you’re probably right. Luckily for you, someone has gone to all the trouble so you won’t have to. A gentleman named Steve Mason has created a large-scale version of the game that can be played by hand using multiple contact points. The result? Extreme awesomeness. Don’t believe us? See the video after the break, then just try and tell us you don’t want to get in on that action.

[Thanks, Penny]

Continue reading Wall-sized, multi-touch ‘Missile Command’ — every gamer’s fantasy

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

DIY multitouch surfaces may be relatively new to the do-it-yourself library, but we have a feeling they won’t be fading anytime soon. Engineering and design firm Eyebeam has spent the weekend demonstrating a kit (Cubit) that enables folks to build their own multitouch tables, and all individuals will need to provide in order to enjoy their very own is an “inexpensive” video camera and projector, among other small pieces of hardware. Unfortunately, details beyond that are pretty scant, but we’d count on hearing a lot more in the coming days now that it has stolen the limelight at Maker Faire.

[Thanks, Duke]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Peripherals

Want your own multitouch control surface? Have a webcam, cardboard box, and photo frame? The folks at Hacknmod MacGyvered their own with just those materials. By simply pairing a fixed camera and controlled light surface, they were able to mimic what others have paid hundreds for, albeit in a decidedly less attractive package. Peep the somewhat uncomfortably porn-like vid after the break. Oh, and seriously, Hacknmod guys, what’s with the sexy techno and slow-mo insertion of the USB cable?

[Thanks Dan S]

Continue reading Multitouch surface made out of box, webcam, and glass

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Displays

Hold on to your touch panels, folks, as Wacom has just made known its plans to reveal “a major innovation in capacitive touchscreen technology” at next month’s International Society for Information Display Exhibition. The tech, dubbed Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC) touch, relies on “reversing ramped electro-static fields” to bring unprecedented precision and “drift-free performance” to touchscreen users. Reportedly, it can be integrated into dual-input applications with the firm’s EMR pen-input solution or can operate on its lonesome on devices that require just a finger touch interface. Of course, there’s way more pizazz to the whole thing than we can cover in this space, but feel free to don your nerd suit and hit the read link if you’re thirsty for more.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments