An immersive multitouch, multi-user “Touchwall” has been revealed… for trade conference attendees.
newVideoPlayer("/unmouse.flv", 506, 304,""); The UnMouse Pad is like the MacBook Air/Pro’s multitouch trackpad on steroids. On display at the Microsoft Research Summit (which also housed the Microsoft Sphere), this Joint project between Microsoft and NYU utilises Force-Sensing Resistors to create one giant, mouse pad-sized circuit. In the last part of the video, you can see the insane amount of input points the UnMouse Pad can track and the rising bars indicate the amount of pressure applied at each point (especially when I press my whole hand on the pad). And according to creator Ken Perlin, the technology used in the UnMouse Pad is apparently dirt cheap as well, which could make it friendly for consumer markets. [Microsoft Research]
While modders are busily adapting the Eee PC for touchscreen capability, it seems that Asus has been working on an official handwriting recognition add-on. Demoed at last weeks Computex show, the Asus pad accepts English and Chinese (traditional and simplified) characters and simply plugs into the Eee’s USB port. It measures 10.9 x 11.2 x 1.8 cms, with the touch pad being a little over 5cms across. If you’re an eager hand-writing fan, you’ll have to wait though, as there’s no launch date or price info. [Aving via Pocket Lint]
Craving a bit deeper, more meaningful interaction action with your touchscreen gadget, like maybe stretching or squeezing it? Microsoft thought so. Researchers have come up with a prototype of their force-sensing tech that’ll let you apply different kinds of force to a device, like twisting or bending, to do stuff like flip through document pages or swing through applications.
Touchscreen interfaces are great, but all that touching, like foreplay, can be a little bit of a drag. Enter the wonder kids from Elliptic Labs, who are hard at work on implementing a touchless interface. The input method is, well, in thin air. The technology detects motion in 3D and requires no special worn-sensors for operation. By simply pointing at the screen, users can manipulate the object being displayed in all three dimensions. Details are light on how this actually functions, but what we do know is this:
Put this MagicMouse on your finger, and make your PC’s cursor move around as if by some miraculous force. It works with five carefully positioned ultrasonic microphones, picking up signals from the ring and judging its position in 3D space. Move your hand closer or farther away from the screen and you zoom in, or move your hand back and forth and the cursor follows it.
What team of scientists invented this thing?
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