Paul’s Blog

I’ve been following the new HCI Paradigm called “Multi-Touch” for some time now (since early 2006). I want to document my thoughts on this shift in computing, to see if my predictions come true, and that it radically impacts the field of computing over the next decade. I’ll start by merely pasting in below, some of my prior emails on the subject, with links to the things I was finding (I have removed the email addresses and names of everyone except myself of course):

Update:

From: Richardson, Paul
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 8:25 AM
To:
Subject: RE: Surface expected to be released by commercial partners in November 2007http://www.microsoft.com/surface/Available this November at $5,000 to $10,000 per unit   In 3-5 years they project consumer price ranges.I would be very surprised if Apple doesn’t beat them to that.  I’ve seen patent applications from Apple for laptop models which are very cool, and lest we not forget, the iPhone is already consumer level and was the first to make “finger” multi-touch ubiquitous on consumer devices.———————————————–

From: Richardson, Paul
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 11:17 AM
Subject: RE: UPDATE: Multi-Touch Touchscreens

Greetings,

UPDATE: We now have the first windows phone with a touchscreen (called the HTC Touch SmartPhone):

(quick text review) Really Long URL
(video demo) http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/htc_touch/

Note that the OS (windows mobile 6) is the same. The touch capabilities are merely an application that rests on top of the OS. This difference is important. The iPhone is an operating system custom tailored AROUND the idea of multi-touch (sort-of). Not only is the HTC Touch an extremely limited version of touch screen capabilities, it is NOT multi-touch.

The NEW PARADIGM of human device interfaces, which multi-touch provisions for, is that there are no “input” devices, just humans acting directly on data, using their own bodies and sound. Some prokaryotic creatures may only have one digit > humans have more.

Regards,
Paul

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From: Richardson, Paul
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 8:49 AM
Subject: UPDATE: Multi-Touch Touchscreens

For over a year now, I’ve been tracking the progress on ‘multi-touch’ capabilities (you may recall my prior email below). Not being chained to a stylus or some other tool, but rather, your finger is a big plus, but using two or more fingers, on a smartscreen?— priceless. This opens up lots of possibilities in scientific and design fields.

Here is the link to the Microsoft video I mentioned before: http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/05/29/announcing-microsoft-surface.aspx

MY OPINION: Surprise. Microsoft is finally getting on the bandwagon. Of course, rather than spend a billion dollars on making multi-touch affordable, and part of the next operating system, it looks like they are sequestering it to expensive coffee tables >> which doesn’t bode well for it’s perception as viability in the minds of VCs.

Regards,
Paul

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From: Richardson, Paul
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 9:36 PM
Subject: Multi-Touch Touchscreens

Greetings my friend,

About a year ago (Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 10:25 PM), right after TED ‘06, I (Paul Richardson) sent out an email to nearly all my techie friends, about the new multi-touch technology show-cased there. It is so remarkably close to the “special effects” of movie magic such as in ‘Minority Report’ by Tom Cruise, that I was really blown away. In that email I predicted that it multi-touch would be ubiquitous on tablet PCs everywhere very soon (probably within 5 to 10 years): “Play with OneNote on a sweet tablet, and dream, nay I say, merely place your bets when this (or some derivative) will be everywhere.”

I am going to be tracking this closely. I love my Tablet PC, and though it’s clunky and slow and awkward (just like PC’s were before the X86 days), I know enough about HCI that I am confident that multi-touch is on the absolute verge of becoming accessible on a whole new generation of tablet PCs. IT workers often chuckle at the gullibility of the public when watching movies like ‘The NET’, ‘Firewall’ and ‘Swordfish’. That is why when something truly remarkably different, which is a giant leap forward, and represents a turning point (like the tablet PC itself) comes along, those who understand the old-fashioned idea of a hacker, who enjoys hacking all kinds of gadgets, get excited. We can wait to get to touch it, play with it, and test it.

Apple BOUGHT FingerWorks. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Apple is going to one day unveil a full-size touchscreen device (Microsoft’s currently unchallenged domain in consumer tablets). By moving to a Unix based kernel (FreeBSD) Apple sent a clear message with Darwin: Not only do they want Neo-Luddites and artists, they now want hard-core IT people (they got the other far tail of the bell curve). Next, by moving to the Intel CPU, Apple is now targeting the vast middle 2 standard deviations, who just use computing as an means to an end (but never an end in itself). What will be next? Perhaps their current OWNERSHIP of the patents and technology created by FingerWorks (which can be seen in the new iPhone) are some clue to a forthcoming full-size multi-touch device within the next few years?

Regards,
Paul

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch

Multi-touch is the name of a human-computer interaction (HCI) technique and the hardware devices that implement it. It is a kind of touch screen or touch tablet / touchpad that recognizes multiple simultaneous touch points, frequently including the pressure or degree of each independently, as well as position. This allows gestures and interaction with multiple fingers or hands, chording, and can provide rich interaction, including direct manipulation, through intuitive gestures. Depending largely on their size, some multi-touch devices support more than one user on the same device simultaneously. One salient aspect of this technique is that it makes easy to zoom in or out in a Zooming User Interface with two fingers, for example, thereby providing a more direct mapping than with a single-point device like a mouse or stylus.

FingerWorks produced a line of keyboards that incorporated multi-touch gestures. FingerWorks has since been purchased by Apple, who has incorporated the technology into its iPhone. The firm Tactex Controls is one supplier of multi-touch pads.

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Use of gesture for HCI is admittedly infantile still: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVQrhsjOlwU&mode=related&search=
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The Apple iPhone is a big leap forward. The video is rather long (about 1 hr, I guess??), and it’s also rather boring and slow in places, so pick something you can do at the same time (like I did, watch TV at the same time in bed, ha ha!). Check it out, http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/mwsf07/

Here is an ULTRA-SHORT version of SOME of the features: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgW7or1TuFk
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Imagination is the ONLY limit to the use of Multi-touch:

Longer, better version:
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2007/01/jeff_han_multi-touch_display_demo_applications.html

Includes some discussion by Researcher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhMVNdplJc&mode=related&search=

Shorter version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-y3ZNaCqs
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New Type of KIOSK?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiuwMe4QpBQ&mode=related&search=
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Make Dinner or Any Table Surface more Interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKehq6qsdY&mode=related&search=
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Make window shopping Interactive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1-w7maL36k&mode=related&search=
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Hackers are building their own versions NOW! (on Linux): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQkSObRtw0o&mode=related&search=
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Now you don’t need a keyboard, just type on the virtual keyboard:
http://techzoogle.com/the-canovo-dual-touchscreen-notebook/