Multi-touch Totally Explained

Everything about Multi-touch totally explained

Multi-touch is a human-computer interaction technique and the hardware devices that implement it, which allow users to compute without conventional input devices (for example, mouse, keyboard). Multi-touch consists of a touch screen (screen, table, wall, etc.) or touchpad, as well as software that recognizes multiple simultaneous touch points, as opposed to the standard touchscreen (for example computer touchpad, ATM), which recognizes only one touch point. This effect is achieved through a variety of means, including but not limited to: heat, finger pressure, high capture rate cameras, infrared light, optic capture, and shadow capture.
A myriad of different applications for multi-touch interfaces both exist and are being proposed. Some uses are individualistic (for example, iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air). However, multi-touch technology is mainly used to incorporate collaboration into the computing experience.

History

Multi-touch technology dates back to 1982, when the University of Toronto developed the first finger pressure multi-touch display. The same year, Bell Labs and Murray Hill published what is believed to be the first paper discussing touch-screen based interfaces. In 1984 Bell Labs engineered a touch screen that could manipulate images. The same year Microsoft began research in the area. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1991, when Pierre Wellner published a paper on his multi-touch “Digital Desk”, which supported multi-finger and pinching motions (these would later be critical to the development of modern products such as the iPhone). In 1998, Fingerworks, a Newark-based company run by University of Delaware academics John Elias and Wayne Westerman, produced a line of multi-touch products including the iGesture Pad

Recent developments

Various companies expanded upon these existing discoveries in the beginning of the twenty-first century. Mainstream exposure to multi-touch technology occurred in the year 2007, when Apple unveiled the iPhone and Microsoft debuted surface computing. The following is a compilation of notable uses of multi-touch technology in recent years.

Apple iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro

The 2007 introduction of the iPhone marked the first time multi-touch technology was used in a cellular phone. Apple’s iPhone allows users to interact with their phone/web browser/music player/video player without the use of a keypad or stylus. This technology was so popular that Apple is currently in the process of trying to patent its “Multi-touch” technology(successful - US patent no. 20070257890). Following the release of the iPhone, Apple also expanded its use of multi-touch computing to the new iPod touch, as well as the new MacBook Air. Multi-touch was later added to the 2008 MacBook Pro line.

Microsoft Surface

In 2001 Steve Bathiche and Andy Wilson of Microsoft began work on an idea for an interactive table that mixes both physical and virtual worlds. Research and Development expanded rapidly in 2004, once the idea caught the attention of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. In 2007 Microsoft introduced Microsoft Surface, a functional multi-touch table-top computer. Boasting an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, Windows Vista, and over 2 GB of RAM, the unit is the first of its kind.
Essentially, Microsoft Surface is a computer embedded in a table with a large, flat, touch-responsive display on the top. The table uses small cameras (as opposed to finger pressure or heat) that enable it to react to the touch of any object. The unit has eight different modes that allow users to perform an array of activities,ranging from organizing pictures and videos to ordering a filet at a restaurant. Multiple users have the ability to work on the table at one time. The preliminary launch was on April 17, 2008, when Surface became available for customer use in AT&T stores. The price for one unit is said to range somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000.

CUBIT

Addie Wagenknecht and Stefan Hechenberger for Nortd studio, sponsored by Eyebeam an art and technology center based in New York, have created a scaled-down open-source version of Surface, called CUBIT (multi-touch). By sharing the Cubit's hardware schematics and software source code, the engineers are significantly reducing the cost of owning a multitouch table. But they're also fostering innovation by giving engineers an open platform on which to develop novel multitouch applications--something that they've previously lacked. It will cost anywhere between $500 to $1,000 depending on hardware used

Perceptive Pixel

Perceptive Pixel is a company founded by New York University consulting research scientist Jefferson Y. Han that creates wall displays and tables that can accommodate up to 20 fingers. The displays use light emitting diodes along with infrared light to determine the point of contact. Hahn envisions large collaborative spaces that will allow multiple users to work and interact. Perceptive Pixel’s technology is currently being utilized by CNN and an unspecified government contractor.

Asus EEE PC 900

Asus has included multi-touch function on the touchpad of EEE_PC model 900, which is announced in April 2008.

The future of multi-touch

The use of multi-touch technology is expected to rapidly become common place. For example, touch screen telephones are expected to increase from 200,000 shipped in 2006, to 21 million in 2012. Developers of the technology have suggested a variety of ways that multi-touch can be used including:

Enhanced dining experience
- order food, ask for refills, split check, pay bill, entertainment while dining
Concierge service
- locate landmarks, plan day, uplink info to cellular phone
Gaming
Governmental use
Concept mapping
An enhanced multimedia experience

Popular culture references

Pop culture has also portrayed potential uses of multi-touch technology in the future. The 2002 motion picture Minority Report portrays a large touch controlled wall display similar to the one created by Jeff Han. Also the television series introduced both surface and wall displays similar to Microsoft Surface in its sixth season. Another form of a multi-touch computer was seen in the motion picture The Island, where the professor has a multi-touch desktop to organize files.

Further Information

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