Schematic is an interactive agency who helped come up with the futuristic advertising seen in the movie Minority Report.They are set to debut their new multi-touch wall at the 2009 Cannes Advertising festival.Nice…i want one

I had trouble embedding the video but you can view the full demo here: TouchWall DEMO . Its worth a look especially if you are into tech stuff or involved with advertising.

Ted.org ist die Videoplattform der jährlich in Monterey, Kalifornien abgehaltenen TED-Konferenz ( Technology, Entertainment, Design), auf der eine Gruppe von rund 1.000 Experten aus verschiedenen Fachgebieten ihre Ideen austauschen.

Auf Ted.org gibt es zahlreiche hochinteressante Vorträge, die man sich ansehen kann. Wie zum Beispiel das unten eingefügte Video. Es zeigt Jeff Han (Wissenschaftler am NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences) bei der Demonstration eines Multi-Touch-Screens, den er entwickelt hat. Han präsentiert den Touchscreen anhand mehrerer Anwendungsbeispiele. Er benutzt, zum Beispiel beim Fotos ansehen, alle Finger beider Hände um zu zoomen, Fotos zu drehen und zu verschieben. Auch eine Tastatur zum Beschriften der Fotos lässt sich jederzeit einblenden.

Das meiner Meinung nach faszinierendste an dieser Technologie ist das Verwenden von zwei oder mehr Fingern, um bestimmte Aktionen durchzuführen. Han ist der Meinung, dass seine Erfindung die Zukunft der Computerbedienung darstellt und ich stimme dabei voll und ganz mit ihm überein. Die Bedienung mittels Multitouchscreen dürfte einfacher und praktischer sein, als die herkömmliche Bedienung mittels Maus. Nur was das Schreiben am Screen mittels eingeblendeter Tastatur betrifft, bin ich mir nicht ganz sicher. Ich habs gern, wenn ich beim Tastendrücken einen Widerstand spüre – Oldschool sozusagen.

Teilweise, etwa bei Apple-Produkten (z.B. Iphone, Macbook) wurde das, was der von Jeff Han vorgestellte Prototyp konnte, bereits umgesetzt.

Han präsentierte diese neue Art von Touchsreen bei der TED 2006 vor einem in höchstem Maße beeindruckten und begeisterten Publikum. Auf Youtube wurde sein Vortrag  mehr als 600.000 mal angesehen.

Interessante Links zu Jeff Han und seiner Multi-Touch-Technologie:

http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/

http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

http://multi-touchscreen.com/

This video is of a person who is playing warcraft on a multi-touch screen, similar to the microsoft surface.  The only difference between this screen and Microsoft Surface is that this screen can turn any monitor into a multi-touch screen.  Developed by PQ Labs, this modification lays on top of most 32″ plasma and LCD televisions.  If you have a larger screen that you would like to turn “touch,” PQ Labs will custom build you one to fit your screen.

This technology really allows for people to interact with machines in a completely different way.  Thus far, we intereact with a computer via mouse and keyboard.  With a multi-touch screen this essentially throws out the mouse and keyboard and all your left with is a clean looking screen.  What’s even more promising is the way video games will be played.  I have linked a video to this post of a person who is playing warcraft with this screen by PQ Labs.

Even though this technology really isn’t that new, it hasn’t really reached main-stream yet, and I believe that what PQ Labs has done here is really attempt to make this more accessible to the public.  Except for the price, I don’t see what is stopping people from adapting this new technology to their way of life.  This overlay will cost people about 2500 dollars and much more for larger screens i’m sure.  Like everything else, most technologies that have not gone mainstream yet are expensive but we can thank competition and capitalism for bringing those prices down.  I look really forward to playing with one of these and maybe even buying one for myself.

Some footage from 2006 about the future of multi touch technology. Fast forward to today and the iphone with it’s touch screen is one of the most popular devices in the world. It won’t be too long before multi touch becomes the norm for everyday life & interaction. We already see it at grocery stores, bank machines & security devices. As an artist and gadget nerd, this opens up realms of possibilities. The super future? Or just more useless geek stuff? Discuss.

On Wired.com today, August 26, 2008, there was a great article that kind of put computers in a new light for me. I have also associated computers with a mouse and keyboard, and that being the best possible way to interact with the interface, but this Han guy is developing an operating system that would change the 40 year trend of “point and click” or WIMP (window, icon, menu, pointing). Han has been working for two years on creating multi touch screens. I can imagine the benefits already, but I’ll let you flip over to the interview with Han. Is it better than a mouse and keyboard? For some things yes, but other things maybe not. Check it out… Multi Touch Screen Article

Se trata de un sistema experimental creado por Jeff Han basado en una pantalla de alta resolución multi-touch screen. El principio podría ser parecido al mecanismo de la pantalla del popular dispositivo IPhone, pero al ser una pantalla grande y llevar detrás un sistema de gestión de gráficos mucho más potente que el que pueda tener un dispositivo de bolsillo, de momento lo hacen único. Quizás la clave esté más en la componente de elaboración artística del Software que no el propio sistema táctil.

http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

Es lo ultimo en tecnologia de pantallas multi-punto con interacción táctil, es la Perceptive Pixel de Jeff Han…Vale la pena, el futuro ya esta aquí en cuanto a este tipo de tecnología se refiere.

Todo-TV 
Reparar TV Barcelona

July 29, 2008 – With its broadband wireless connectivity, enterprise support, and built-in GPS, the new iPhone 3G is already a huge success, with 1 million phones sold in the first week.”It’s cheaper, faster and a lot friendlier for business. Apple’s blockbuster smartphone already had nifty features such as visual voicemail, a splendid built-in video iPod and the best mobile Web browser I’ve ever used,” USA Today columnist and iPhone For Dummies author Edward C. Baig wrote in his review of the device. “With GPS newly added to the mix, this handheld marvel has no equal among consumer-oriented smartphones.”

Now, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is bringing to market iPhone 3G Portable Genius (ISBN13: 978-0-470-42348-6; $25.00; 304 pages), the first in a new series of books to support Apple products and cater to forward-thinking Apple users. iPhone 3G Portable Genius is an attractive guide that gives readers the savvy information they need to make the most of this amazing all-in-one device. They’ll find smart, innovative tips on 3G Web surfing, syncing with multiple computers, conserving battery life, and much more—all illustrated with full-color photos and screenshots—along with information on fun and useful apps available at the new iPhone App Store.

About the Authors

Paul McFedries is president of Logophilia Limited, a technical writing company. He has written or cowritten more than four dozen books that have sold more than two million copies worldwide, including MySpace Visual Quick Tips and Computers Simplified, 7th Edition.

David Pabian is a freelance writer and a Mac enthusiast.

About Wiley

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Peace.

Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley’s global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company’s Web site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

For more information, contact: Ashley Evens 201 748 6702 aevens@wiley.com

iPhone 3G Portable Genius By Paul McFedries, David Pabian Wiley; August 2008; $25.00 978-0-470-42348-6; Paperback

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Here is the video from my installation at the Enterprise Centre in the Queen’s University SU. There’s already posts on this page with photos from the day explaining what the Sonic Window is, but basically its a multi-touch screen which was designed to allow you to explore Virtual Worlds like Second Life through sound.

credit to the voice of Fire Centaur who appears part way through this demo

Today was the big day!  Luckily everything functioned correctly despite the infrared light flooding in from outside.  I really hoped it would be cloudy and rainy today so that the sunlight wouldn’t be an issue but luckily everything worked fine still *phew*.  The installation was done in conjunction with my colleague Adam Scott Neal’s installation entitled ‘Recycled Wind’.  Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure

I’m aware that these ‘phase’ names really don’t mean anything but I’ll use them anyway!  This is the current state of my ‘Sonic Window’.  So far it has 10-point multi-touch control and allows you to mix the sounds of 4 different sources with noise.  The idea is that you can’t really see what’s on the other side of the window, and by touching the window you can spread the noisy elements apart from the pitched sound elements and ‘hear’ the world on the other side of the window.

Sounds generated in Max/MSP/Jitter 5 and blob tracking is implemented using the cv.jit objects.  The noisy visualisation is done in a program i wrote using Processing.  The man you see very elegantly demo’ing the installation for you is Javier Jaimovich, he too is working on an installation using electronic circuits connected by the metal surfaces of the Sonic Lab.

So, as a quick demo to see whether my set-up is suitable for ‘blob tracking’ I downloaded the open source Reactivision software from the people who make Reactables and apart from a huge white spot in the middle of the screen the system appears to work!! Fingers placed on screen seem to cause bounding rectangles to appear which is a good sign.  The next step is either to rebuild the software for my own sinister purposes…or to just use OSC to get the data into Processing.

It may be a little hard to understand what’s going on here.  The white spot in the middle is probably because my light isn’t diffused properly.  my fingertips are the four small blobs in the bottom left hand corner.

I never claimed to be a builder, engineer, or good at designing and constructing anything physical.  I’m a musician!  We don’t make promises about things like this.

That said, I had no choice but to build my own frame because this multi-touch screen project needed a window metaphor because the project is called ‘The Sonic Window’.  Here’s an artist’s representation of what i mean.

And here’s my, for lack of a lamer word, feeble attempt at building a window frame.

Note how my intricate design cleverly uses the table edge as a highly secure support.  Very intelligent I know.

I’m not entirely sure why i keep referring to this part of the project as ‘phase #2′ but anyway it makes me feel better about where i am in the project and also slightly less panicked about the tiny little issue that it needs to be finished in…1 week!!

So anyway, most everything i learned is from running a fine toothed comb through Google and the forums at the NUI Group which is super helpful and an extremely friendly community of fellow touch-screen builders.  Essentially what i’m building is known as a DI (diffused illumination) table which means that you shine infrared light at a slab of Acrylic with a sheet of translucent material in front of it.  When a user places their fingers on the front surface their fingers reflect the IR light back stronger than the translucent paper does.  From this point you can implement your favourite variety of ‘blob tracking’ using a video camera and a computer.

Si hablamos de pantalla táctil, todo el mundo sabe lo que es. Quien más quien menos ha utilizado este tipo de interfaz, ya sea para sacar dinero en un cajero, para navegar a través de los menús en algún punto de información de un museo, para comprar tickets, entradas,…

Pero cuando empezamos a hablar de pantalla “Multi-táctil” (Multi-touch screen) la cosa cambia. Fue a principios de los años 80 cuando se empezó a desarrollar esta técnica pero no salió a la luz hasta el año 2005 con un dispositivo llamado Lemur Input Device que pasó sin pena ni gloria. Hasta que en 2006 se le empezó a sacar jugo a este tipo de interfaces y finalmente Apple, en Julio de 2007, se hizo con la patente de la palabra “multi-touch” junto con el ya famoso “iPhone”. El iPhone se ha convertido en el primer dispositivo comercial para el gran público en incorporar este tipo de pantalla. Y le ha precedido el recién presentado Mac Book Air, que aunque su pantalla no es multi-touch, si que lo es su touch-pad (lo que vendría a ser el ratón en un ordenador portátil).

Sin embargo, como una imagen vale más que mil palabras, adjunto un ejemplo de pantallas multi-táctiles:

• En primer lugar:

• A continuación Microsoft quiso dar un paso adelante y llevar el artilugio más allá

• Finalmente un ejemplo real y actual. El iPhone de Apple:

Eine Anzeige, die gleichzeitig mit mehreren Fingern bedient werden kann (Multi-touch Screen), hatte Microsoft unlängst demonstriert. Nun ziehen die Entwickler Freier Software nach. Die Grundlage grafischer Oberflächen unter Linux, X, wird in einer der nächsten Version ähnliche Funktionalität bieten und mehrere Mäuse/Tastaturen je Anzeige unterstützen.

Quellen: Pro-Linux News, PC World