Designing for Touch & Gesture: Tips for Apps and the Web (Updated)

In the past, our fingers did the walking, sifting through files, papers, pamphlets, and phonebooks, and then by point-click-clicking with a mouse to interact with images and text, in essence, electronic imitations of the paper-based world. Traditional forms, brochures, ad inserts, and posters informed much of the design. 

How much have things change?   It is 2013, but you'd think it was 1997 from the PowerPoint look and feel of many apps and web sites!   Touch is everywhere, but from what I can tell, not enough designers and developers have stepped up to the plate to think more deeply about ways their applications can support human endeavors though touch and gesture interactions.  

For an overview of this topic, take a look at my 2011 post, written after a number of ugly encounters with user-unfriendly applications:  Why bother switching from GUI to NUI?  

For an in-depth look into the history of multi-touch, the wisdom of Bill Buxton is well-worth absorbing.  He's worked with all sorts of interfaces, and has been curating the history of multi-touch and gesture systems since 2007:


Multi-Touch Systems that I have Known and Loved
Bill Buxton, Microsoft Research, Updated 8/30/12



Even if you are not a designer or developer, I encourage you to explore some of the links below:

Touch Gestures for Application Design
Luke Wroblewski, 10/9/12

Common Misconceptions About Touch
Steven Hoober, 3/18/13

Designing With Tablets in Mind:  Six Tips to Remember
Connor Turnbull, Webdesign tuts+, 9/27/11

Finger-Friendly Design: IDeal Mobile Touchscreen Target Sizes
Anthony T, Smashing Magazine, 2/21/12

Best Practices: Designing Touch Tablet Experiences for Preschoolers (pdf)
Sesame Street Workshop


Are Touch Screens Accessible?
AcessIT, National center on Accessible Information Technology in Education

iOS Human Interface Guidelines
Apple

Android User Interface Guidelines
Using Touch Gestures
Handling Multi-Touch Gestures
Android

Designing for Tablets?  We're Here to Help!
Roman Nurik, Android Developers Blog 11/26/12

Touch interaction design (Windows Store apps)
Microsoft - MSDN

Multi-Touch Systems that I have Known and Loved
Bill Buxton, Microsoft Research, Updated 8/30/12

Interactive Display at the Local Hyundai Dealership

I was at the auto dealership to get my car's oil changed a few weeks ago and noticed a large interactive display that featured an in-depth explanation of Hyundai's BlueLink technology. The display also provided touch-screen interaction to explore information and view videos about the features of new cars.  

My toddler grandson loves cars, so when he came to visit, I brought him along. Since it is difficult to interact with a touch screen display and at the same time discreetly video the experience with a toddler in tow, I wasn't able spend much time exploring the display's features. The following video is what I managed to capture.

I am still hunting down information about the story behind the display.   

RELATED
HYUNDAI's Interactive BlueLink website

Overview of BlueLink 


The Tube (2008)
This project was installed in 180 Hyundai dealerships in the U.S.  It was created with a Papervision3D menu to display media types such as video, audio, animation, and zoomable bitmaps. The application was designed to run within a local network. I'm not sure if the display I saw at my local dealership was an updated version of this project or something new.

The web-version of the application that was in "The Tube" project does not have all of the features that can be accessed in the local version. The photos were taken from Mike Connor's website:  rocketnumber9.org/flash-developer/touchscreen-kiosk-hyunda/





From the Digitally Yours blog:

Audi City: Car Showroom of the Future
Digital at New York Auto Show '12

Note: 
The Digitally Yours blog covers lots of topics related to interactive technologies. For your convenience, here are some category links: 
Augmented Reality & QR Codes; Interactive Websites; Installations; Shopper Marketing; Infographics; Location Based; Apps and Mobile; Product Launches.

Interactive Large Displays in Urban Spaces: Communicating Energy Usage through Duke Energy's "Smart Energy Now" Project

On October 28th, the Envision Charlotte project was launched during a celebration at Two Wells Fargo Plaza in uptown Charlotte.  As part of the celebration, interactive displays were turned on as part of an effort to establish Charlotte as the "most sustainable urban core in the country".  Although this is a lofty goal, it is important.

Although I am a little disappointed that I missed the  Envision Charlotte launch party,  I was happy to learn that I how interactive technology will play a role in helping people support the goals of Envision Charlotte and Duke Energy's Smart Energy Now campaign:


According to information from the Smart Energy Now^SM blog,  large interactive display kiosks in urban spaces will encourage a large number of people to make simple changes in their daily work lives  by showing the correlation between their actions and energy consumption.  "The kiosks will be in approximately 70 buildings in uptown Charlotte. More than 80,000 employees will be able to visualize real-time energy usage as a single number — a number that could lead to real change in the way Uptown uses energy."  35 buildings were installed with 47-inch displays during the first phase of this endeavor, with more planned for the near future.

 It is possible that this effort might help to decrease energy use within the uptown business section by 20% over the next five years.

Video: Envision Charlotte-Uniting for a Sustainable City


I'll bring my video camera the next time I visit Uptown Charlotte to get a closer view of the interactive displays!


RELATED
 
Uptown Workers to be key players in green initiative


The Smart Energy Now program sponsors are Cisco, Verizon, and Duke Energy.
Smart Energy Blog
Envision Charlotte

Multitouch and Gesture News (Part I) : NUITEQ Updates

In this post, I'd like to share some news from NUITEQ, a privately held multi-touch software technology that is based in Sweden.  NUITEQ is known for Snowflake Suite, a multi-touch application that is used in a variety of situations.  


"NUITEQ is as happy as a kid in a candy shop to announce that it has released version upgrade 1.9.4 of its award-winning, industry leading multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite" - Harry van der Veen, NUITEQ


The screen shot below gives a nice view of the range of applications that included in Snowflake Suite:



-Photo from NUITEQ


DEMONSTRATION OF SNOWFLAKE SUITE




RELATED
NUITEQ's CTO Mikael Bauer nominated for the Mer-IT award in the category IT-person of the year
NUITEQ Awarded CONNECT Norr Company of the Year 2011
NUITEQ's Partners
From the NUITEQ Gallery, via Harry van der Veen

Toyota Vision Multi-Touch Wall at the 2011 Detroit Autoshow: Good example of a collaboration between PUSH, Juxt Interactive, GPJ, and Hush (updated)

GOOD EXAMPLE!

I didn't have the chance to get up to the Detroit Auto Show and interact with the iWall, so I watched the videos.


Toyota iWall from Justin Micklish on Vimeo.


From Justin Micklish's Vimeo site:
"Named "Belle of the Ball" at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, the Toyota Vision Wall is a large-format interactive installation leveraging a great deal of UX intelligence and bleeding edge technology."


This project was a collaboration between a team at PUSH Offices and Juxt Interactive (lead agency), GPJ (experience marketers), and Hush (motion graphics).


Toyota Vision Multi-Touch Wall Case Study:  A good explanation of the "how and why" of this project:

Toyota Vision Multi-Touch Wall Case Study from JUXT Interactive on Vimeo.

From the JUXT Interactive Vimeo site:
"In January, Toyota debuted the largest digital multi-touch installation ever seen at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. GPJ and JUXT Interactive created the digital touch wall experience to deliver a feast for the senses, allowing consumers to explore videos, photos and custom content through a larger-than-life, interactive surface."


RELATED
PUSH
"PUSH is a marketing & design research firm based in Venice, CA. We shirk labels and defy classifications. We have been called strategists, writers, technologists, marketers, typographers, entrepreneurs, and designers. Above all, we are curious. We make a living creating compelling experiences with our clients. Recent collaborations include work with Yahoo, West, and Sony."

Juxt Interactive 
"JUXT is a company that creates from the ground up, top to bottom, or even sideways. It kinda makes sense since we were started by a couple of architects....Lots of people ask us if we only do digital work. Well we like to think and play where people are, and these days that just happens to be the Internet. That suits us just fine because the online space has far less restrictions and barriers than other media. JUXT does not take kindly to limits, or being put in a box."
GPJ: George P. Johnson
"GPJ is the world's premier experience marketing agency, working with leading companies who are looking for innovative marketing solutions that motivate their audiences and activate their brands through live experiences."
Hush
"Hush is a design and direction studio crafting stories for digital, broadcast, mobile and physical installations. Whether using the latest technology or the most classic of techniques, we unifyu stories for agencies and brands alike."


Comment:  This post was revised on 2/11/11 to reflect a clarification from Justin MicKlish.  He's a partner and producer with Push and worked on this project with others in the role of technology consulting and software development. 

Interactive Display with QR Tag: Close Encounter at the Orlando Airport

I always like to try out technology in public spaces when I travel.  Imagine my excitement when I was presented with my first opportunity to try out my tag app on my Incredible while I was waiting for my baggage to arrive after my flight from Charlotte to Orlando...

On first glance, the location of this display near the rest rooms and baggage claim area makes sense. Travelers can access information about things to do in North Port from their Smartphones by scanning the QR tag with a tag reader app while they wait for their baggage.

To my dismay, my interaction with this display and my tag reader app was not enjoyable. 

Because the tag was located at the bottom of the display, I had to set aside my carry-on bags, purse,etc., and kneel front of it to center my smartphone precisely at the tag.  The display was on the wall between the restrooms, a convenient gathering point for people. Little kids darted around me, and parents used this spot to re-organize their family's "stuff".  As I tried to scan the tag, a dad had to ask his son to move back, "so the lady could take a picture". 

I was blocking the path of families and groups of travelers with all of their stuff.  I gave up trying after a while, much to the relief of my husband, who watched all of this as he waited for our baggage.

Microsoft is acquiring Canesta, Inc., a developer of 3-D electronic perception technology for natural user interaction, gaming, and more.

Microsoft to Acquire 3-D Chip Firm Canesta
Michael Baron, TheStreet 10/29/10

Thanks to Harry Van Der Veen, of NUITEQ, for this link!

RELATED
The following video is from the Canesta3D YouTube channel. It demonstrates the 3D input sensor in action, with four people moving around in a living room. The chip used in the system depicted in the video was the precursor to the current chip, called the "Cobra 320x200".


Below is a demo of gesture interaction using Canesta3D technology to control and select information and content on a large display.  In my opinion, this will change the way we interact with our TV's, at least for those of us who hate using bad remotes!  Microsoft's acquisition of Canesta is good news, especially if they allow this technology to be used by the masses.   I'm pretty sure it has the capability of supporting  interaction with HD TV's are internet-ready, and can support GoogleTV, LeanBack, and Vimeo's Couch Mode.




Canesta Announces Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Microsoft
Press Rease, 10/29/10, Canesta

About Canesta (From the Canesta website)
"Canesta (www.canesta.com) is the inventor of revolutionary, low cost electronic perception technology and leading provider of single chip CMOS 3-D sensors that fundamentally change the relationship between devices and their users. This capability makes possible true 3-D perception as input to everyday devices, rather than the widely understood 3-D representational technologies as output. Canesta’s 3-D input technology, based upon tiny, CMOS 3-D imaging chips or “sensors”, enables fine-grained, 3-dimensional depth-perception in a wide range of applications. Products based on this capability can then react on sight to the actions or motions of individuals and objects in their field of view, gaining levels of functionality and ease of use that were simply not possible in an era when such devices were blind. Canesta’s focus is on mass market consumer electronics, but many applications exist in other markets as well. Canesta is located in Sunnyvale, CA. The company has filedin excess of fifty patents, 44 of which have been granted so far."


Canesta Corporate Fact Sheet (pdf)
Videos: http://canesta.com/applications/consumer-electronics/gesture-controls

I posted some videos about Canesta's technologies on the following post. There are two videos that show Canesta's 3D depth camera works on a Hitachi flat-panel display: Interactive Displays 2009 Conference

For more information about interactive TV, GoogleTV, Leanback and Couch Mode, see the second section of my recent post:
Philipp Geist: Blending the Physical with the Digital;  Google TV/Leanback, Vimeo's new Couch Mode, oh..and ViewSonic's 3D (glasses-less) pocket camcorder...

Multi-touch and NUI News: NUITEQ's Multi-touch Snowflake Suite for Windows 7

NUITEQ is a company that has been involved in multi-touch technologies for the past few years, and works diligently at ensuring that it keeps up with the evolution in interactive displays and software.  The company's Snowflake Suite is now available for Windows 7, and is compatible with 3M Touch Systems, N-trig, NextWindow, Lumino, and other third-party platforms.  

Here is the current compatibility list, and also a list of Snowflake Suite for Winodws 7 features:

Compatibility

* NextWindow platforms like HP TouchSmart IQ500, IQ770, IQ800 series and the Dell Studio One (all 2 touch)
* N-trig platforms like HP TouchSmart TX2, Dell Latitude XT/XT2 and others
* 3M Touch Systems multi-touch kit
* Lumio platforms
* dreaMTouch
* PQ Labs
* Wacom

Snowflake Suite for Windows 7 Features

* Detailed user manual included with FAQ

* Developed on fast and reliable C++ platform

* Intuitive

* Customizable backgrounds, logo's, images, 3d models, videos etc

* Gesture recognition library

* TUIO / OSC (Open Sound Control) support (sending and receiving events)

* Low level API

* Hardware accelerated rendering

* Support for wide variety of media types (jpg,jpeg,tga,png,dds,gif,tif, tiff, bmp,mov,avi,wav,ogg)

* Advanced window handler that supports scaling and rotation

* Audio support

* Multi-threaded resource handler (For fast data visualization)

Snowflake Suite is also compatible with the following systems:

* TouchCore 

* Visual Planet

* NextWindow

* NEXIO Plugin

RELATED 

NUITEQ now offers 3M 22" true multi-touch displays bundled with its Snowflake Suite software

"The 3M multi-touch displays support up to 20 finger touches simultaneously and come with a one year warranty. NUITEQ's Snowflake Suite, is included at no additional charge, offering the benefits of a complete bundled product of hardware and software, being the perfect solution to get started with multi-touch technology."

Brochure (pdf) 

NUITEQ Flat 46" Multi-touch LCD 

Photo Credit: NUITEQ

Case Study
"NUITEC freely assisted handicapped children with their education, by applying multi-touch technology for Action For Kids, a UK based national charity working with children and young people with physical and learning disabilities.The children used NUITEQ’s award winning multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite, to enhance their way of learning, by offering a more playful and intuitive solution, in comparison to conventional learning methods."

Thoughts about technology on a cruise ship, and other reflections...

It is January 4 2010, and I am enjoying my Caribbean cruise trip. 

I’m a little disappointed that technology on cruise ships has not moved forward as I’d hoped over the past few years.   On my ship, which is less than three years old,  Wi Fi is available in each stateroom, in addition to the common areas.  This is a good thing, but it is very expensive.  The pay-as-you-go rate is 75 cents a minute!   If you have a 3G iPhone or Smartphone, you’ll have to pay outrageously high fees to connect to the internet from the ship’s connection, I’m told.

I was pleasantly surprised by some of the digital displays on the ship, especially the “show-reel” of the beautiful destination points and exciting activities that everyone looks forward to when going on a cruise.  I was also impressed with the digital touch-screen poker table in the casino, even if I don't play poker.

I even liked some of the digital signage that were basically slide show posters of nice vacation pictures.

My biggest disappointments?  

• The  large touch-screen flat-panel display that served as an interactive shore excursion kiosk.  It was tucked away in a poor location, and it didn’t make any sense!

• The interactive TV experience, specifically the the shore excursion selection process.  This experience made me hate TV remote controls more than ever!

• The cruise ship wayfinding system.   Arrrggghh.
  

I will devote at least one blog post to each of the above disappointments when I’m done editing the video.

I guess I shouldn’t have had such high technological expectations for my trip.  I’m on a Carnival cruise ship, and I know that the line is owned by the same company that owns the Holland America ships. From previous cruises on Holland America ships, I know that they are more upscale than Carnival.    I guess I got too excited when I recently learned that a few Holland America ships provide cruise-goers with the magic experience of Microsoft Surface in their lounges, and also adopted the Windows 7 operating system.  On the Carnival Freedom, things aren’t quite so advanced. 

Why is this important to me?

• I’m interested in studying how technology can facilitate collaboration, communication, information-gathering, and decision making in public spaces, and since I have plenty of cruise ship travel experience, cruse ship spaces.

• I’d like to follow up on the work I did on a student project.  Three years ago, I did  a lot of people-watching during a cruise-ship vacation, which inspired the topic of my Human Computer Interaction team project during the semester after my trip. I took another cruise ship during that semester, which further informed my thinking about this topic.  Since then, I’ve been on 4 cruises.

• I think that much of the information I obtain from my observations related to travel experiences, including cruise ships, can inform work in other related domains, such as shopping malls, museums, historical points of interest, libraries, airports, bus, railroad, and subway terminals, parks and squares, and so forth.  I also think this work can inform educational applications and simulations, such as 3D “Virtual Field Trip” games, following Universal Design for Learning principles.

I spent some of my time yesterday, our "day at sea", reading two books and jotting down some of my reflections from 1) and educational/universal design for learning perspective, and 2)  a ubiquitous computing/interactive displays in public spaces + collaborative perspective:

• Acting With Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design (Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie A. Nardi)
• Thoughts on Interaction Design (Editor:  Jon Kolko)
  

UPDATE TO COME!

Become a Facebook fashionista with interactive augmented reality in Tobi's virtual dressing room.

Tobi, an on-line shopping website, has virtual dressing room with hundreds of dresses waiting to be tried on. Take a snapshot, share it on Facebook, and the process is elevated to a form of social fashionista networking.

The video below explains it all:



I'm not sure if the Tobi website will be offering a virtual dressing room for men.

Link from David Tan, ImmersiveTech

Interactive Content & Communication Across Platforms, Screens, and Situations: Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0

Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0 conference was held November 10-11, 2009, and I was fortunate to come across the concept video shared during the opening presentation.



-Via Putting People First and Nokia Conversations

RELATED
Nokia The Way We Live Next 3.0  Putting People First post

The Way We Live Next:  Social apps and open-source R&D (Jesse Sutton 11/11/09,  Wired UK)
(Discusses Life Tools, Health Radar, Mobile Job Hunt applications.)

Nokia- life in 2015 (JBC, Nokia Conversations, 11/11/09 - a review Heikki Norta's presentation. Norta is head of corporate strategy.)

Multiplying our Efforts (pdf)  Presentation: Henry Tirri, SVP, Head of Nokia Research Center

Communities creating Computers – Computers connecting Communities (pdf)  Presentation:  Peter Schneider, Head of Technology Marketing, Maemo Devices, Nokia

Communities of the Future (pdf)  Presentation:  Purnima Kochikar, VP, Head of Forum Nokia & Developer Community

Go Mobile with Cash (pdf)   Presentation:  Teppo Paavola, VP, General Manager of Mobile Financial Services, Nokia

SOMEWHAT RELATED

The Nokia Braille Reader (Experimental)


The Nokia Braille Reader is a joint project between Nokia, Tampere University, and the Finnish Federation of Visually Impaired.

Cross Posted on The World Is My Interface

Jonathan Kessler's Hand Eye Technologies: Coordinating your cell phone with Interactive TV

Hand Eye Technologies is developing ways to use your smart-phone over remote control driven interaction.  Jonathan Kessler, the CEO of the company, was interviewed by Tracy Swedlow, of ITTV, about his background and his ideas for the future of interactive television.

Podcast Link:  Hand Eye Technologies Interview
Here is a video from the Hand Eye Technologies website:



If you happen to have an HIT-enabled mobile device, near an HIT enabled display, two-way communication is established, via a LAN, WiFi, or wireless 3G carrier. The mobile device's camera is used to manipulate things on the interface, and the set-box takes care of some of the rest.

Interactions include selecting text and objects, "drag and drop", insert/delete, inputting text or annotations, and drwing on the screen. Hand Eye offers a drawing application called Video Graffiti, and traces the movements you make when you move your mobile device.


"Hand Eye Technologies' mission is to create and communicate the premier software platform that enables mobile devices to interact with the digital world around them... any time, anywhere." - Hand Eye Technologies

"It is more about human-computer interface than remote control". -Jonathan Kessler


This looks like it is moving towards the next level of 2-way TV interactivity, much better than what the traditional remote control can do.

RELATED


Hand Eye Technologies Management Team
CNET – Hand Eye wants your smartphone to watch TV with you
Venture Beat – DEMO: Hand Eye Technologies lets your mobile phone watch TV with you 
TheWrap.com – Coming Soon: Real-Time Interactivity Between TVs and Smartphones
Ubergizmo -With Hand Eye Technologies, the TV show continues in your handset

Interactive TV Today
About InteractiveTV Today:
"Founded in 1998 by Tracy Swedlow and co-owned by Richard Washbourne, InteractiveTV Today [itvt] is the most widely read and trusted news source on the rapidly emerging medium of multiplatform, broadband interactive television (ITV). We provide concise, original coverage of industry developments, technologies, content projects, and the people building the business. Our readership is mostly made up of hundreds of thousands of executives from around the world."

MORE GEAR: Video demo of the 20-inch HP TouchSmart 300 and the 23-inch TouchSmart 600; Also, the HP LD 4200 42-Inch High Def Digital Touch Display

Looking for something techy, yet touchable?  More multi-touch screens will be on the market soon from HP.


Video of the HP TouchSmart PC 300 and 600


Information from the HP YouTube website:


Two new HP TouchSmart PCs packed with exclusive touch applications, the HP TouchSmart 300 and HP TouchSmart 600, feature stunning HD displays with a multitouch enabled screen. Consumers can now stream Netflix movies, watch TV programs, listen to music and internet radio, create photo collages and bring out their inner chef all by simply touching the PC screen. The new consumer PCs feature exclusive built-for-touch applications including: Hulu Desktop, Netflix, Twitter, the HP Music Store powered by Rhapsody, Pandora Internet radio the TouchSmart Recipe Box, and Canvas. The 16:9 widescreen tiles make multimedia, social media and other applications a rich and engaging touch experience. Some models of the HP TouchSmart 600 easily connect to gaming consoles, including Xbox, PlayStation and Wii, via HDMI or composite video ports. The HP TouchSmart 300 starts at $899 and is offered in a 20-inch diagonal widescreen (available Nov. 1). The HP TouchSmart 600 starts at $1,049 and is offered in a 23-inch diagonal widescreen (available Oct. 22).

I like the new features, especially the tilt webcam, the swivel that lets you swivel the screen around as needed,  and the recipe box application.    The a digital recipe box "scrapes" recipes from on-line websites, and allows you to listen to the recipe through a blue-tooth earphone.  The recibe box applications will talk to you as you prepare a meal, hands-free!



For businesses that are looking for high-definition interactive kiosks, 43-inch HP LD4200, diagonal digital signage touch display might be a great solution:

 "Aimed specifically at the digital signage market, with HP noting is suitability for kiosks, retail, point of sale, shopping malls, travel terminals, hotel lobbies, recreational venues, universities, stock exchanges and hospitals, the new 42” HP LD4200tm multitouch LCD display offers Full HD (1080p) resolution and, thanks to utilising infrared and imaging sensors, will happily acknowledge touch commands such as zoom pinching and drag scrolling thus bringing true interactivity to information and advertising visualisations...On top of its mulittouch capabilities the HP LD4200tm boasts ultra-wide 178 x 178 degree viewing angles and is set to ship from December with a price tag of just shy of $2,800" - Andrew Tingle, TFTS

Note:  NextWindow is the creator of the touchscreens.

The World is My Web Browser: Interactive Technology in Public Spaces

Off-the desktop Interactive technologies are spreading quickly, across many platforms.   It seems that within the next 3-5 years we will be able to have instant access to a social and dynamic web, with information and entertainment at our fingertips, anywhere we go. 


The "world-as-web-browser" concept is one I've touched upon in the past.  I'd like to focus on this topic in future posts.

I came across some of the information in this post on the Future of Media Blog,maintained by the folks at the Interpublic Emerging Media Lab, based in California. This blog is a must-read!


The Saatchi & Saatchi ad agency in the UK created interactive games that provide people waiting in bus shelters the opportunity to pass the time by bashing digital falling eggs.


A more utilitarian approach to interactive touch screens is the EyeStop bus stop, a concept created by researchers MIT's SENSEable City Lab, along with the city of Florence and the city's transit service:


MIT



MIT researchers unveil the EyeStop: "Bus stop of the future" can sense its surroundings (pdf)



SOMEWHAT RELATED

IPG Future of Media Blog

Interactive Marketing, Retail, and Multi-touch: Here's Lots of Video Clips from EyeClick

A reader brought to my attention the work of EyeClick, an interactive multimedia advertising company that has been around for a few years. They create interactive floors, and use "intuitive body motion with floors and surface areas".

-EyeClick

I've included several videos below, but for more information and related details, check out EyeClick's product page, which has a nice showreel, and information about the benefits of interactive marketing.










EyeClick appears to be similar to lm3labs, a company I've posted about previously.

Thanks, Paul Glen for the link!

Do you have an HP TouchSmart, Dell Studio One, or NextWindow touch-screen? NUITech's Snowflake Suite upgrade provides a multi-touch plug-in.

If you have a NextWindow touch screen display, HP TouchSmart PC, or Dell Studio One PC, you might be interested to know that NUITech has upgraded their multi-touch software, Snowflake Suite. There is an evaluation download available on the NUITech website created for the NextWindow platform. (The TouchSmart and Studio One have NextWindow touchscreens.)

Here is a short clip of Snowflake 1.6 in action:

Snowflake Suite 1.6 provides users with an opportunity to change the standard content that is delivered with the software, which includes images, videos, 3D models, and backgrounds, so it can be customized according to need.

RELATED

Natural User Interface AB has adopted new branding and a new name, Natural User Interface Technologies AB, or NUITech.

Press Release (8/12/09)

Evaluation version of Snowflake Suite for NextWindow systems (including TouchSmart, Studio One)

Snowflake Suite running on multiple NextWindow 2150 overlays for 22-inch screens:

(The previous version of Snowflake, depicted in the above video, was a finalist for the 2009 Stevie Award, "Best New Product or Service of the Year- Media & Entertainment)



Singapore's Public Utility Board display, Singapore International Water Week, featuring NUITech systems and software.

SOMEWHAT RELATED
Press Release: Next Window Earns Coveted Windows 7 Logo Certification pdf

Touch Screen and Interactive Displays Biz News, Part 1: NextWindow; Schematic

Here is more news from the interactive touch-screen industry:

NextWindow Introduces 2700 Touch Screen Overlay for New Wave of Education and Entertainment Applications

NextWindow Touch Screen News 2009 - Earns Windows 7 Certification

NextWindow Multi-TouchCreativity

Schematic Multi-touch Wall for Cannes

Interactive "Multimedia" at the Supermarket!

I've seen a few displays place right on the shelf with the food items over the past few months. The ones I've seen at Wal-Mart are tastefully done and are not too intrusive, but they are not interactive.


In my opinion,it would be much more useful if the screens were touch-enabled, so I could quickly access the information I needed. Who wants to stand in front of the Pringles while a video cycles through information that may not be what is needed?

Here is another example of an "interactive" display positioned at shelf-level:
I was in the cheese aisle at the supermarket the other day, and thought I heard something, but I wasn't sure what it was. I walked right by the source, and I was searching for it. Can you find it in the picture below?


(Picture taken by cellphone)

If you watch the video clip below, you can see that the "user experience" design behind this scenario needs quite a bit of improvement. I thought I might get a coupon from this display, but I was mistaken, disappointed, and unsure how to explain the situation to the cashier.

I was also disappointed because I know that there is much better technology available than this little...box!


(Video taken with cell phone)

The display says "SmartSource". SmartSource is a company that rents digital signage equipment, such as plasma video walls, waystation kiosks, and so forth. They work with Popstar Networks, a company that provides customized digital media marketing and communication solutions.

Popstar Networks now offers mobile digital advertising via Bluetooth-enabled digital media displays. Popstar Networks also provides 3D content as a holographic image. According to information from the Popstar Networks website, the 3D experience is provided through Philips 3D WOWvx technology.


You can watch a videoclip of 3D action from the Popstar Networks website: 3DTV

I suppose that the cheese aisle at the supermarket is not yet worthy of an interactive 3D "solution" : {

Apparently Philips thinks that 3D WOWvx technology is not worthy of pursuing, citing current market conditions:
Philips Decides to Shut Down 3D Operation
Chris Chinnock, Insight Media, Display Daily 3/27/09
Philips Stops Its 3D Solutions Venture
Adrian J. Cotterill, DailyDOOH 4/10/09
Philips Axes 3D Display Division
Devin Conors, Tom's Guide, 4/15/09

FYI: The following video explains 3D WOWvx:

GestureTek's "Cube": A compact Interactive Gesture-based Display System

GestureTek's "Cube"




From the GestureTek website:

"Introducing The Cube - a compact, turnkey, 'plug and play' interactive display unit that brings the power of gesture control to a variety of display spaces. Project the interactive 80” diagonal display onto almost any floor, wall, table or counter for branding, advertising, entertainment and product promotion. The Cube will engage customers, turn heads and drive business results."

Brochure (pdf)

Interactive Displays in Public Spaces

Daniel Michelis recently completed his Ph.D. dissertation on a topic that is dear to my heart. Information about his research can be found on his Interactive Displays in Public Spaces blog.

(Note: This was cross posted on the Technology-Supported Human World Interaction blog.)

Here are links to a few of his posts:

Interactive Displays: Perception, Awareness, and Interaction

Evaluating Interaction with Display Applications in Public Space

I especially like the diagrams Daniel uses to depict zones of interaction:

Figure 3: Four-phase Model
(Source: Daniel Michelis (2009), according to: Vogel and Balakrishnan, 2004)

(Author: Daniel Michelis, Institute for Media and Communications Management, University of St. Gallen)

Figure 1: Perception and Usage of Interactive Displays
(Source: Daniel Michelis (2009), according to: Brignull & Rogers, 2003)