This is the Table Connect, a rather wonderful-looking hardware hack which connects an iPhone to a 58-inch capacitive multi-touch display, allowing full control of the IPhone’s navigation functions, only using hands instead of fingers.

Or is it? Look closely and you’ll see that the demo-guy presses the sleep-button on the top of the iPhone as he fires up the controller “app”. What you are actually seeing in the video, unless this is some weird kind of double-bluff, is some amazingly well rehearsed mime, in which the protagonists manage to match their movements up exactly with what is going on on-screen.

Distracted by the homo-erotic excitement of zooming in on an already oversized Sly Stallone by stroking his biceps with two hands, I almost fell for this one, so well is the trick executed. Is it a pre-recorded sequence, or is this really a live display piped from another jailbroken phone being controlled off-camera by a third stooge? We may never know.

source

From iPhone to multi-touch tables, the leap has now been made to a touch-sensitive floor. The researchers are presenting their work at a user interface conference in New York next month.

While multi-touch screens are becoming more and more commonplace, German researchers are now working on integrating this same technology into floors. Users would interact with the multi-touch floor by using their feet.

“When I walk across the floor with my shoes, I get a glowing, infrared imprint of my footprints,” explained Patrick Baudisch, head of the Human Computer Interaction group at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany.

“And from that we can reconstruct where people are, and what shoes people wear because the soles are recognizable.”

The Multitoe floor would be able to identify users based on their footprints

The demonstration model of the “Multitoe” floor is about the size of a coffee table and measures about one meter by a half meter, and is raised up off the ground. The floor itself is made of a thick piece of glass, topped with a black sheet of acrylic. A camera, built-in to the floor, points up towards the ceiling.

A smart floor could show the way

According to Johannes Schoening, from the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Saarbruecken, a touch sensitive floor could open up a whole range of possibilities.

image: kay herschelmann

image: kay herschelmann

image: kay herschelmann

image: kay herschelmann

“The main advantage is you can sense what’s going on, on the floor,” he said “But now you have to think about so what can you do with that information. So for example if you are in the supermarket, you can provide navigational instructions.”

A Multitoe floor could be used for large scale visual applications, like maps

Other examples could include a smart-floor in a museum or an airport that shows you the way – or even a dance club where you can interact with the visuals on the floor.

Previously, the Sustainable Dance Club company in the Netherlands created a floor that generates power when people walk, jump and dance on it. It’s fitted with LED lights that can change color, but these use as little energy as possible because generating power is the priority.

Eric van Duin, an engineer with Sustainable Dance Club, said his company is excited about the potential of an interactive floor like the Multitoe – just as long as it doesn’t use too much power.

“Our touch experience is very limited, so maybe it would be very interesting to combine these technologies to enhance our dance floor”, he said.

Author: Cinnamon Nippard
Editor: Cyrus Farivar

In April, NEC announced plans to release a 3D all-in-one (AIO) desktop PC sometime this year.

In the all-in-one world, the MSI Wind Top 2420 3D can be considered an overachiever. Not content with merely offering a stereoscopic display, this PC is going for broke by incorporating multitouch capabilities as well.

They were probably hoping to lay claim to being the first company to bring such a product to the market but they’ve been beaten to the punch by MSI, who is set to release its Wind Top AE2420 3D AIO PC that also boasts a touchscreen and is also the first AIO PC to feature USB 3.0 ports. Sporting a 24-inch Full HD (1080p) multi-touch display comprising a 120Hz LED panel, the AE2420 3D comes with one pair of rechargeable wireless active shutter glasses and 2D to 3D conversion capabilities.

MSI’s Wind Top AE2420 3D AIO PC will be available in the U.S. from September 20 with prices starting at US$1,799.

Hey,

My name is Brice Royer, I’m a volunteer and one of the community managers of Jeff Han’s Multi Touch Technology Archives.

The reason why I’m interested in multi-touch screen technology is
because I had a physical disability for several years. I couldn’t use
computers and felt very frustrated.

My intention is to help you connect with the leaders in this industry
who are improving the way people interact with technology. I’m
honored to be part of your movement.

Here’s your chance to post your Twitter to over 3,153 members in the
multi-touch screen newsletter.

Leave a comment below with your Twitter link and explain why we should people follow you.

You know the blog rules: Don’t pitch, provide value.

Always give more than you expect to receive.

Let’s get to know each other!

Talk soon,
Brice

1. Follow me on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/BriceRoyer

I tweet about non-profits, personal development, global culture and technology.

Please email admin@multi-touchscreen.com for enquiries.

Here’s yet another thing the iPhone can do: it’s a universal remote. This ThinkFlood RedEye system includes a dock that communicates with your iPhone via WiFi, creating those infrared (IR) signals that your AV components obey.

Like our favorite Logitech Harmony 900 remote, the RedEye’s macro operation is sophisticated, letting you create “actions” that turn on multiple components for, say, watching TV, or watching a Blu-ray disc. You can arrange the buttons on the touchscreen however you want, and you can even use multitouch slides to control functions such as volume.

Besides its steep $188 price, the only disadvantage we see is that when you’re watching TV, it’s better to have physical buttons that you can operate without looking at the remote. But that eyes-free multitouch function takes care of channel changing and volume, the main functions you use while watching TV. Nice. Take a look at the video of the RedEye in action:
source:

My daughter stopped by the office and I couldn’t help but let her play with the TouchSmart PC and BabySmash. What’s interesting is that she immediately goes for multi-touch and it looks as if the commands are translated to a “zoom” button on the keyboard being pressed etc.

The Asus Eee PC T91, which we fondled fondly at CES, has a few new tricks up its sleeve in the multitouch and Windows 7 department, but sadly these features won’t make it in time for launch this month.

Previously, we knew about the netbook’s touchscreen and hefty £449 ($670) price tag (for an Atom-based netbook, anyway), but the multitouch screen and Windows 7, both demoed in the video, were kind of a revelation.

source

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

This message was sent to us from Brice Royer:

—————-

Subject: Are you going to meet Jeff Han?

Hey,

Jeff Han will be appearing in San Jose! I just read the program for Interactive Displays 2009 and I’m really excited.

You can read the full story here: (Thanks Joan for the tip!)
http://www.int-displays.com

Keynoting the conference will be Jeff Han of Perceptive Pixel and Steven Bathiche, the guy that invented Microsoft Surface. There are lots of sessions on multi-touch development and plenty of product demos too!

The conference is being held in San Jose, California on April 21st – April 23rd, 2009. If you plan to attend, you’ll have a chance to meet Jeff and Steve. It’s going to be awesome.

It would be great to meet other multi-touch developers and designers at this conference. If you are going, please leave a comment!
Talk soon,
Brice Royer
Community Organizer

You may know Jeff Han, you’ve probably seen his company Perceptive Pixel’s Interactive Media Wall / Multi-touch Collaboration Wall, but the missing link to this stuff is taking it home. Well, the wait is apparently over, and for once it’s Neiman Marcus we’ve got to thank. While you’re shopping for the latest

must-have fall fashions, be sure to stop by the newly anointed Futuristic Displays That Don’t Belong at Neiman Marcus Shop to pick up your 8 x 3-foot multi-touch display for a cool $100,000 US, only ten times the price of Microsoft’s

forthcoming Surface. Don’t worry, your family will appreciate your investment; trust us, we really think they’d far prefer it to, say, Christmas presents, a home to live in, or dinner at some point in 2008.

LAS
VEGAS, January 7, 2008 – Bordeaux, France-based JazzMutant, a pioneer
developer of multi-touch sensing technology, announced today at the
International CES that it is launching an OEM business unit in response
to a growing demand for its multi-touch solutions by electronic device
manufacturers and third-party system integrators.

In addition, the company is being renamed Stantum
Technologies http://www.stantum.com,
with JazzMutant remaining the brand name of its music product division,
which includes the award-winning Lemur multi-touch surface controller
for audio and media applications and Dexter laptop-sized surface
controller for digital audio workstations.

“Since we introduced Lemur, interest in our patented
technology has increased to the point that we are now working with
leading companies in various business areas, including aerospace,
consumer electronic and medical imagery, to mention just a few,” said
Guillaume Largillier, co-founder and CEO. “It was time for JazzMutant
to evolve into Stantum Technologies.”

The new OEM business unit will provide Stantum
customers with tailor-made, integrated and cost-effective multi-touch
solutions – by way of components or licenses – that precisely fit their
individual needs, according to Largillier.

“Our aim is to become the major stakeholder of
tomorrow’s man-machine interface industry, making the way people
interact with their working tools, computers or other electronic
devices more intuitive, playful and reliable. Providing our unique
tactile screen technology to companies on an OEM basis – as a one-stop
multi-touch solution – will also significantly strengthen our market
position.”

Stantum’s technology portfolio offers true multi-touch
interfaces that let users simultaneously move an unlimited number of
fingers, nails or utensils such as styli on a screen. Fitting any
form-factor, it enables integrators to design extremely innovative
multi-touch interfaces for their own products, thus simplifying the
development process and considerably shortening the product’s
time-to-market.

The latest in the JazzMutant line is the SMK-15.4 Multi-Touch Development Kit. This new product enables you to build the ultimate in multi-touch user-interfaces.

The development kit is based on Stantum’s five year experience in the design and production of multi-touch systems.

Included in the system is a multi-touch 15.4” WXGA 1280×800 display, embedding Stantum patented scanning and filtering technology, Pmatrix high resolution multi-touch sensor, and all the drivers you could need.

JazzMutant has announced that the Multi-Touch Sensing Technology available on an OEM basis.

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