TactoLogic Ltd. is the very first manufacturer of three-axial tactile-sensor arrays worldwide. TactoLogic currently manufactures the following three-axial tactile sensor arrays: * TactoPoint 1x1 -…
This Youtube video is about science of touch. The summary:
“Touch, expressive and intuitive. Complex in design and function. Essential to our very development. No other sense does more to define us than the sense of touch. And yet most of us move through life, completely unaware of the myriad ways we use it, not only to feel the world, but to move within. In The Science of the Senses: Touch we will take a journey through the skin, into the subcutaneous world of our sensory receptors and up into the brain as we explore the hidden language of our most essential sense. Along the way we will meet Ian Waterman, a man who has lost his sense of touch and developed some amazing strategies to compensate for his loss. We'll visit a blind artist whose astonishing drawings demonstrate the power we may all possess to visualise the world by feeling it. And we'll discover what a race car driver and a surgeon have in common when it comes to utilizing this extraordinary sense and why a revolutionary new prosthetic, one which taps into the amazing power of the human brain, may one day restore the sense of touch to amputees.”
Mag Design and Engineering offers $2550 DIY digitizing tablet kits. The tablet is semi-transparent, so it might be placed on a display.
This illustration-rich tutorial well briefs Wacom’s patented EMR technology.
Pen plays a critical role in EMR pen sensing technology. Diagram 3 of this article shows the simplified internal structure of the active pen
This article includes an excellent comparison chart of upcoming tablet PCs, including Apple iPad, HP Slate, Joo Joo, Notion Ink Adam, Dell Mini S, Archos 7 Android, Lenovo U1, Archos 9.
It’s a product brochure of Wacom multitouch technology. Wacom multitouch can be applied to displays with size from 7” to 17.3”. Displays larger than 7” (up to 15.6”) needs two MUXs, whichi are for a…
This project is to give haptic feedback by generating weak electrical sensation. Although it is for the blind, I think the technology can be applied to a new touch screen that can give real “touchy”…
eBOOKIXD is a new community dedicated to discussing, promoting, and developing usable eReading interaction design protocols.
Scriptel offers dual mode pen and touch solution. It can be compared with N-trig and Wacom. N-trig and Wacom’s technologies relies on the combination of electromagnetic induction and capacitive…
The report claims that the market share of Wacom is 86% worldwide. The netsales (2009) is 344,183,000USD, among which ESD business part recorded 33,058,000USD. Wacom’s ESD division covers digitizing…
“Touchable, Writable, Colorful” - It summarizes all the requirements of touch technology for ebook readers. Touchscreens for ebook readers must have pen and multitouch functions.
The computer accessories aftermarket amounted to $6.575 billion in 2008, and will reach $7.64 billion by 2013.
This report also contains details of Wacom profile, which is the major company in…
[Press Release, via Displaybank]
Seoul, Korea & San Jose, CA, February 26, 2010- Displaybank, a global authority in market research and consulting for the display and solar industries, today announced that touch screen panel market will continue to show over 30% CAGR by 2013. Touch screen panel market created $2.45B in 2009 and expected to create $36.4B in 2010 and $73.7B in 2013. Displaybank also forecasts that touch screen enabled application products reached 280M units in 2009 and expected to reach 420M units in 2010 and 800M units by 2013.
“The objective of this work is the construction of an active artificial whisker system which closely corresponds to the external parts of the whisker system in rodents. The development of the artificial whiskers will be the basis for subsequent robot experiments. We were developing a tactile sensor which is responsive to whisker deflection and vibration. The tactile sensor system can measure angular direction, frequency, and deflection amplitude of the artificial whisker, which corresponds to the capabilities of the mechano-receptive sensory systems in rodents.”
It’ cool idea. That magnets was always the source of troubles for me to do some signal processing, but they’ve used it in very creative way. But I think that three ore more magnetic compasses are needed to track 3D movement accurately.
Everyone would agree that usability is an important aspect of Web design. Whether you’re working on a portfolio website, online store or Web app, making your pages easy and enjoyable for your…
They’ve predicted 163 million smartbooks shipping by 2015
OTFT Technology & Market Trend
The "Organic Thin Film Transistor (OTFT) Technology and Industry Trend" comprises
(1) Organic Thin Film Transistor's Material & Device Technology,
(2) Development Trend by Maker,
(3) OTFT's Current Key Issues & Development Direction.<Table of Contents>
1. OTFT Overview
2. Conductivity Property of Organics
3. Operation Principal and Theory of OTFT
4. OTFT Manufacturing Process
5. OTFT Display Device Application
6. OTFT Development Status by Maker
7. Key Issue in OTFT
8. Index
Incorporating “five-sense sensors” makes electronic devices much easier to use; devices of the future may be able to recognize human emotions - a feat which would alter the way in which we relate to…
Below are the collection of links and videos about LED-based multi-touch sensing, which was popularized by Jeff Han.
Are you tired of phones that irritates you with vibrating motors? Here are new ways to give you true tactile feedback. Note that some of them combine touch and haptics together.
Below are some of papers about touch that will be published at CHI2010 conference.
Multi-touch techniques for Exploring Large-Scale 3D Astrophysical Simulations
Chi-Wing Fu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Wooi Boon Goh, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Junxiang Allen Ng, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Graspables Revisited: Multi-Touch vs. Tangible Input for Tabletop Displays in Acquisition and Manipulation Tasks
Philip Tuddenham, University of Cambridge, UK
David Kirk, University of Nottingham, UK
Shahram Izadi, Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK
The Design and Evaluation of Multitouch Marking Menus
Julian Lepinski, Autodesk Research, Canada
Tovi Grossman, Autodesk Research, Canada
George Fitzmaurice, Autodesk Research, Canada
FingerCloud: Uncertainty and autonomy handover in capactive sensing
Simon Rogers, University of Glasgow, UK
John Williamson, University of Glasgow, UK
Craig Stewart, University of Glasgow, UK
Rod Murray-Smith, University of Glasgow, UK
The Generalized Perceived Input Point Model and How to Double Touch Accuracy by Extracting Fingerprints
Christian Holz, Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany
Patrick Baudisch, Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany
Finger-Count & Radial-Stroke Shortcuts: 2 Techniques for Augmenting Linear Menus on Multi-Touch Surfaces
Gilles Bailly, Telecom ParisTech, France
Eric Lecolinet, Telecom ParisTech, France
Yves Guiard, Telecom ParisTech, France
Touch-Display Keyboards: Transforming Keyboards into Interactive Surfaces
Florian Block, Lancaster University, Computing Department, UK
Hans Gellersen, Lancaster University, Computing Department, UK
Nicolas Villar, Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK
Adaptive Mouse: A Deformable Computer Mouse Achieving Form-Function Synchronization
Sheng Kai Tang, User Experience Design Section, Mechanical & Industrial Design Center, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Taiwan
Wen Yen Tang, Virtual Reality Lab, Department of Spatial Design, Kun Shan University, Taiwan
Comparing User Performance with Single-Finger, Whole-Hand, and Hybrid Pointing Devices
Xiang Cao, Microsoft Research Cambridge, United Kingdom
Nicolas Villar, Microsoft Research Cambridge, United Kingdom
Shahram Izadi, Microsoft Research Cambridge, United Kingdom
How Users Manipulate Deformable Displays as Input Devices
Sang-Su Lee, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Sohyun Kim, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Bopil Jin, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Eunji Choi, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Boa Kim, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Xu Jia, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Daeeop Kim, KAIST, Republic of Korea
Kun-pyo Lee, KAIST, Republic of Korea
MAGIC: A Motion Gesture Design Tool
Daniel Ashbrook, Georgia Tech & Nokia Research Center Hollywood, USA
Thad Starner, Georgia Tech, USA
Protractor: A Fast and Accurate Gesture Recognizer
Yang Li, Google, USA
GesText: Accelerometer-Based Gestural Text-Entry Systems
Eleanor Jones, University of Bristol, UK
Jason Alexander, University of Bristol, UK
Andreas Andreou, University of Bristol, UK
Pourang Irani, University of Manitoba, Canada
Sriram Subramanian, University of Bristol, UK
Worlds of Information: Designing for Engagement at a Public Multi-Touch Display
Giulio Jacucci, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University, Finland
Ann Morrison, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University, Finland
Gabriela T. Richard, Educational Communication and Technology, New York University, USA
Jari Kleimola, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University, Finland
Peter Peltonen, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University, Finland
Lorenza Parisi, Facoltà di Scienze della Comunicazione, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
Toni Laitinen, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Aalto University, Finland
Touch Projector: Mobile Interaction through Video
Sebastian Boring, University of Munich, Germany
Dominikus Baur, University of Munich, Germany
Andreas Butz, University of Munich, Germany
Sean Gustafson, Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany
Patrick Baudisch, Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany
LensMouse: Augmenting the Mouse with an Interactive Touch Display
Xing Dong Yang, University of Alberta, Canada
Edward Mak, University of Manitoba, Canada
David McCallum, University of Manitoba, Canada
Pourang Irani, University of Manitoba, Canada
Xiang Cao, Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK
Shahram Izadi, Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK
PACER: Fine-grained Interactive Paper via Camera-touch Hybrid Gestures on a Cell Phone
Chunyuan Liao, FXPAL, U.S.A.
Qiong Liu, FXPAL, U.S.A.
Bee Liew, FXPAL, U.S.A.
Lynn Wilcox, FXPAL, U.S.A.
MouseLight: Bimanual Interaction on Digital Paper using a Pen and a Spatially-Aware Mobile Projector
Hyunyoung Song, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
Francois Guimbretiere, Cornell University, USA
Tovi Grossman, Autodesk Research, Canada
George Fitzmaurice, Autodesk Research, Canada
Touching the Void: Direct-Touch Interaction for Intangible Displays
Li-Wei Chan, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Hui-Shan Kao, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Yen-Yang Chen, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Ming-Sui Lee, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Jane Yung-jen Hsu, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Yi-Ping Hung, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Updated Feb. 20, 2010
Ron George, Joshua Blake, “Objects, Containers, Gestures, and Manipulations: Universal Foundational Metaphors of Natural User Interfaces,” CHI2010, Apr. 2010 (PDF)
[Thanks, Joshua]
You can find lists of CHI2010 papers at CHI 2010 Advance Technical Conference Program.
Siri is a personal assistant application with all-in-one interaction (multi-touch, context-aware, voice UI, and semantic search). And it’s market available!
Siri - The Personal Assistant in your Phone from Tom Gruber on Vimeo.
Big Think Small Screen from Tom Gruber on Vimeo.
[Thanks, NextWindow]
STMicroelectronics’ STM32TS60, the first member of the STMTouch family, is a resistive multi-touch controller that detects and tracks ten simultaneous touches with very fast response times while…
Mgestyk is a technology company that provides a free-hand 3D gestural user interface like Oblong industries. Below is the description of their technology:
“Mgestyk combines powerful software for hand-gesture language processing with an affordable 3D camera. Our patent-pending technology makes it possible to capture small hand movements and translate them into useful commands for controlling practically any Windows application.
Whether it's a simple cursor for browsing the web or a complex set of two-handed gestures for Flight Simulator, our desktop software makes it easy to map gestures to custom actions.
Since gesture processing is done directly on 3D data, any data beyond a certain depth (such as background color or people walking behind you) can be ignored and will not affect accuracy. Processing is also not affected by the lighting in the room.
Best of all, there are no special gloves to wear or brightly-colored objects to hold.”
The G6 Multi-Touch technology supports the multi- touch functions built into Windows 7 and allows users to intuitively control a PC by touching the display screen with their finger tips. In addition…
Cypress unveiled a pen-enabled capacitive touchscreen solution. Below is the video clip showing a demo of writing and drawing with an ordinary pencil with 1mm tip.
Link
Microsoft unveiled Microsoft SideWinder X4 Keyboard with many new features. The most impressive enhancement is anti-ghosting that may be regarded as a keyboard edition of multi touch technology.
“The advanced technology takes anti-ghosting to the next level by allowing gamers to press up to 26 keys at once. Because each key is scanned independently by the keyboard hardware, each key press is correctly detected regardless of how many other keys are being pressed at the same time.”
What is more interesting with SideWinder X4 is that Paul Dietz has contributed to developing it. He developed DiamondTouch that is one of the first capacitive multi touch systems and is available through Circle Twelve.
Link: Tech News Daily, “Exclusive: Hands on: SideWinder X4 keyboard review”
Touch Gestural User Interface With Augmented Reality
Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop on Vimeo (via Vimeo, lukewdesign)
Below are concept designs I’ve chosen among posts at Yanko Design.
The most funny thing with this concept e-book reader is that you can actually flip pages. In addition, if you pages bookmarked with multitouch are easily identified even though the book is closed.
MacView is a concept Mac tablet with two touch LCDs
PencilFlat is a concept mobile phone the deaf folks. It is equipped with a flexible transparent touch screen. A user feeds in the text onto the touch screen to be converted to voice.
via Yanko Design
This is the selectively combined summary of articles about the history of touch technologies. I referred to a report from Morgan Stanley Research, Bill Buxton’s article about multitouch, and “Touchscreen technologies in phones” at Phone Arena.
The Economic Times has an article about interaction projects at HP Labs Iindia - “@HP Labs, they’ll make keyboard & mouse history”…
Below is a collection video clips of resistive multi touch from various companies.
Chung Hua EELY Enterprise Group
His research interests includes the TISCH framework & libTISCH (see http://tisch.sf.net/ and http://tisch.wiki.sourceforge.net/), Multitouch Displays (mainly TISCH), and Ubiquitous Tracking
This Instructable shows you how to create a mini-multitouch interface out of simple parts you can order online or purchase at a typical construction/hardware store.
A cross-platform, cross-device multitouch development framework
Bill Buxton has uploaded an accompanying video clip of his famous touch UI paper entitled “Issues and Techniques in Touch-Sensitive Tablet Input”.
Researchers at TUM have developed an LCD multitouch setup using an overhead camera and FTIR technology. The authors call the combination Inverted FTIR.
The main difference of Inverted FTIR compared with FTIR multi touch comes from the fact that camera is placed over the screen. So, an LCD display is easily integrated into the FTIR multi touch system.
Reference
F. Echtler, A. Dippon, M. Tonnis, and G. Klinker, "Inverted FTIR: Easy Multitouch Sensing for Flatscreens," in ITS2009 Banff, Canada, 2009. http://campar.in.tum.de/Chair/PublicationDetail?pub=echtler2009inverse
Recently, I’m continuously surprised by many companies and people who bring out cool technologies sleeping in the piles of research papers. Today’s surprise is Gesture Cube, which is the result from the joint work of three companies - IDENT Technology AG, ZINOSIGN®, LUNAR Europe
“Gesture Cube uses 3D spatial movement tracking to help transform navigating a device into a magical intuitive experience. The underlying GestIC® technology detects your hand´s approach and movements - your favorite apps and media all at a wave of your hand.”
At this time, the web site contains the video of concept scenarios only, not a real working system.
However, IDENT Technology AG provides the working example of GestIC® that is used in Gesture Cube.
Simply speaking, Gesture Cube is a portable information/entertainment device that you can control with direct and proximal touch gestures. Each surface of Gesture Cube has its own touch sensitive display that can detect both of touch and proximity.
Overall, it shows us an awesome implementation of two interesting research topics in the field of touch user interface.
Unlike traditional touch interfaces, the interaction of Gesture Cube is performed across two or more surfaces of the device. Many researchers have proposed similar works - hand grip recognition, back-of-side interaction, and Cubtile. There are also prototypes that have touch sensors and LED arrays covering the whole surfaces of devices (gCubik, FentixCube, and Z-agon). But the advancement of Gesture Cube comes from the fact that all of its surfaces are covered with advanced touch screens.
It adopts electric field sensing (or electric field imaging) technology that was fully investigated by Joshua Smith, who was an MIT student and now is working with Intel Research. Electric field sensing is a variant of traditional capacitive sensing that is specialized for detecting 3D movement of a remote conductive object. Besides electric field sensing, there are other works implementing 3D capacitive sensing (Thracker, EtherTouch, and so forth). From the concept video, it seems that the 3D sensing and conventional touch screen technologies are well merged with each other.
via Engadget and SlashGeaer
See also:
This article introdues $1 and $1000 versions of making multitouch
