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...
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "natural user interaction". Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "natural user interaction". Sort by date Show all posts
Oct 31, 2010
Nov 11, 2010
Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It", Revisited
I've been planning on updating one of my popular posts, "Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and Getting It" for a while.
Here is a compromise - since much still rings true two years since I wrote it, the bulk of this post remains the same. I've updated a few sections with additional video examples of interactive touch-screen applications, good and bad, along with a few links and resources, located at the bottom of the post.
(The missing piece of information? An update about apps for the iPad and similar touch-screen tablets.)
Sit back and enjoy!
-Images: HP; Wired
There's been some discussion over the reasons why so many people don't understand touch screen, or "surface" computing, even though research in this area has been going on for years.
As the new owner of the HP TouchSmart, I know that I get it.
The research I've conducted in this area suggests that people will "get-it" only if there is a strong commitment to develop touch-screen "surface" applications through a user-centered, participatory design process. In my view, this should incorporate principles of ethnography, and ensure that usability studies are conducted outside of the lab.
This approach was taken with Intel's Classmate PC. Intel has about 40 ethnographic researchers, and sent many of them to work with students and teachers in classrooms around the world. (A video regarding ethnographic research and the Intel Classmate project can be found near the end of this post.)
-Images: ClassematePC
Where to start?
K-12 classrooms and media centers. Public libraries. Malls. Hospital lobbies and doctor's offices. Any waiting room. Staff lounges in medical centers, schools, and universities. Community festivities and events. Movie theater lobbies. Museums and other points of interests.
I believe we need to take a "touching is believing" approach.
Here are some thoughts:
When I try to explain my fascination with developing touch-screen interactive multimedia applications, (interactive whiteboards, multi-touch displays and tables, and the like), many of my friends and family members eyes glaze over. This is particularly true for people I know who are forty-ish or over.
Even if you are younger, if you never saw the cool technology demonstrated in the movie Minority Report, or if you have limited experience with video games, or if you haven't came within touching distance of an interactive whiteboard, the concept might be difficult to understand.
The reality?
Even people who have the opportunity to use surface computing technology on large screens do not take full advantage of it. Multi-touch screens are often used as single-touch screens, and interactive whiteboards in classrooms are often serve as expensive projector screens for teacher-controlled PowerPoint presentations.
Most importantly, there are few software developers who understand the surface computing approach, even with the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Most focus on traditional business-oriented or marketing applications, and have difficulty envisioning scenarios for surface computing. There is a need for a breath of fresh air!
Another factor is that not all people entrusted to market surface or touch screen computing fully understand it.
Despite a cool website showing off the goods, Microsoft's Surface multi-touch table has been slow to take off, limiting hope of bringing down the price tag to a price most families or schools could afford. (The picture above depicts an application for the Surface designed for health care professionals, not K-12 science education.)
Although you can't buy a Surface table for your family room, it is possible to buy a TouchSmart. HP's TouchSmart website is engaging and highlights some examples of touch-screen interaction, but most people don't seem to know about it. (Since this post was last written, there are many more touch and multi-touch options available to the public, such as the Dell, the iPad, etc.)
Unfortunately, you wouldn't have a clue that the HP TouchSmart exists browsing the aisles at Circuit City or Best Buy!
When I was shopping for my new TouchSmart, I noticed that from a distance, the TouchSmart looked just like the other larger flat-screen monitors filling up the aisles. The salespeople at both stores were not well-informed about the system. The only reason I knew bout the new TouchSmart was related to my obsession with interactive multimedia touch-screen applications- designing them, developing them, studying them, reading about them, blogging about them.... ; }
More thoughts:
After studying HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), and relating this knowledge to what I know as a psychologist, my hunch is that the "Window Icon Mouse Pointing-device" (WIMP) and keyboard input mind-set is embedded in our brains, to a certain extent. Like driving a car, it is something automatic and expected. This is true for users AND developers. (Update - See The Post WIMP Explorers' Club: Update of the Updates for a review of a discussion among passionate post WIMP folks)
Think about it.
Suppose one day, you were told that you no longer were allowed to control your car by turning on the ignition, steering the wheel, or using your feet to accelerate, slow down, or stop the car! Instead, you needed to learn a new navigation, integration, and control system that involved waving your hands about and perhaps speaking a few commands.
For new drivers who'd never seen a car before, this new system would be user-friendly and intuitive. Perhaps it would be quite easy for 16-year-old kids to wrap their heads around this concept. For most of us, no. Imagine the disasters we would see on our streets and highways!
When we think about how newer technologies are introduced to people, we should keep this in mind.
In my mind, spreading the word about surface computing is not a "if you build it, they will come" phenomenon, like the iPhone. We can't ignore the broader picture.
From my middle-age woman's vantage point, I believe that it is important that the those involved with studying, developing, or marketing surface computing applications realize that many of us simply have no point of reference other than our experiences with ATMs, airline kiosks, supermarket self-serve lanes, and the like. (The video clip at the very end of this post provides a good example of touch-screen technology gone wrong.) -UPDATE: additional videos were added to this post.
Be aware that there are substantial numbers of people who might benefit from surface computing who prefer to avoid the ATMs, airline kiosks, and self-serve grocery shopping.
Realize that the collective experience with technology, in many cases, has not been too pretty. Many people have had such user-unfriendly experiences with productivity applications, forced upon them by their employers, that any interest or desire to explore emerging technologies has been zapped.
My own exposure to interactive "surface" related technology was somewhat accidental.
A few years ago, a huge box was deposited into the room I worked in a couple of days a week as a school psychologist at a middle school. After a week or so, I became curious, and found out that it was a SmartBoard. Until then (2002!), I did not know that interactive whiteboards existed.
The boxed remained unopened in the room for the entire school year, but no worry. I played with the only other SmartBoard in the school, and found a couple at the high school where I also worked. I hunted for all of the applications and interactive websites that I could find, and tried them out. That is when I was hooked. I could see all kinds of possibilities for interactive, engaging subject area learning activities. I could see the SmartBoards potential for music and art classes. With my own eyes, I saw how the SmartBoard engaged students with special needs in counseling activities. (By the way, if you are working with middle school students, PBS Kid's ItsMyLife website activities work great on an interactive whiteboard.)
A few years have passed, and reflecting on all of my fun experiences with interactive whiteboards, with and without students, I now understand that many teachers still have had limited exposure to this technology.
This school year, many teachers are finding themselves teaching in classrooms recently outfitted with interactive whiteboards, scrambling along with educational technology staff development specialists, to figure out how it works best with various groups of students, and what sort of changes need to be made regarding instructional practice.
For the very first time, interactive whiteboards were installed in two classrooms at one of the schools I work at. One of the teachers I know thanked me for telling her about interactive whiteboards and sharing my resources and links.
If I hadn't let her know about this technology, she wouldn't have volunteered to have one installed in her classroom. It has transformed the way she teaches special needs students.
In the few months that she's used the whiteboard, I can see how much it has transformed the way the students learn. They are attentive, more communicative, and engaged. The students don't spend the whole day with the whiteboard - the interactive learning activities are woven into lessons at various times of the day, representing true technology integration.
Now let's see what happens when all-in-one touch-screen PC's are unleashed in our schools!
UPDATE: Take a look at a post I wrote for Innovative Interactivity just after SMART Technologies acquired NextWindow - the post describe in detail how interactive whiteboards are transforming learning and teaching in a program for students with special needs.
SMARTTechnologies Acquires NextWindow: A "smart window" to the world
There are some interesting changes going on at the intersection of HCI and educational technology research. I participated in a workshop at CHI 2010 last April and was impressed by what is going on in this area, around the globe: Next Generation of HCI and Education
Value of ethnographic research:
Ethnographic Research Informed Intel's Classmate PC
"Intel looked closely at how students collaborate and move around in classroom environments. The new tablet feature was implemented so that the device would be more conducive to what Intel calls “micromobility”. Intel wants students to be able to carry around Classmate PCs in much the same way that they currently carry around paper and pencil." -via Putting People First and Ars Technica
The video below is from Intel's YouTube Channel. Information about Intel's approach to ethnographic research in classrooms during the development of the Classroom PC is highlighted. This approach uses participatory design and allows the set of applications developed for the Classmate PC to reflect the needs of local students and teachers. Schools from many different countries were included in this study.
FYI: TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAYS: NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT!
Touch Screen Coke Machine at the Mall: 90 Seconds to get a Coke
User-Unfriendly Interactive Display in the Rain (Ballantyne Village Shopping Center)
User-Unfriendly Information Kiosk Interactive Map
I encountered this puzzling and frustrating interactive directory/map at the Cleveland Clinic. When I went to visit a relative at the hospital a year or so later, the map was no longer there.
BETTER EXAMPLES OF INTERACTIVE SCREENS:
Samsung's new Omnia SDG i900 was re-created in a much larger size, using lm3lab's Ubiq'window touchless technology.For more about lm3labs, including several videoclips, take a look at one of my previous posts: Lm3Labs, Nicolas Leoillot, and Multimedia Interaction
Midwife Toad App on a Microsoft Surface, Discovery Place Science Center
TellTable: Digital Storytelling on the Surface: Microsoft Research, UK
DECEMBER 31, 2009 -Interactive Soda Machine for Fun
The interactive screen on the Coke machine attracted the attention of this young child. He loved spinning the image of the bottle. So did the dad! He said, "I'd like something like this for my home!". I told him about the HP TouchSmart - both the dad and the mom did not know that there were affordable all-in-one touch screens available, but they knew about SMARTboards, because their children's classrooms had them. Note: No one from this family actually purchased a soft drink. I was hoping to time how long it would take them to do so!
If you have plenty of time, take a look at my Post WIMP Explorers' Club YouTube playlist.
"Natural user interfaces, gesture interaction, multi-touch, natural interaction, post WIMP examples and more..."
Here is a compromise - since much still rings true two years since I wrote it, the bulk of this post remains the same. I've updated a few sections with additional video examples of interactive touch-screen applications, good and bad, along with a few links and resources, located at the bottom of the post.
(The missing piece of information? An update about apps for the iPad and similar touch-screen tablets.)
Sit back and enjoy!
-Images: HP; Wired
There's been some discussion over the reasons why so many people don't understand touch screen, or "surface" computing, even though research in this area has been going on for years.
As the new owner of the HP TouchSmart, I know that I get it.
The research I've conducted in this area suggests that people will "get-it" only if there is a strong commitment to develop touch-screen "surface" applications through a user-centered, participatory design process. In my view, this should incorporate principles of ethnography, and ensure that usability studies are conducted outside of the lab.
This approach was taken with Intel's Classmate PC. Intel has about 40 ethnographic researchers, and sent many of them to work with students and teachers in classrooms around the world. (A video regarding ethnographic research and the Intel Classmate project can be found near the end of this post.)
-Images: ClassematePC
Where to start?
K-12 classrooms and media centers. Public libraries. Malls. Hospital lobbies and doctor's offices. Any waiting room. Staff lounges in medical centers, schools, and universities. Community festivities and events. Movie theater lobbies. Museums and other points of interests.
I believe we need to take a "touching is believing" approach.
Here are some thoughts:
When I try to explain my fascination with developing touch-screen interactive multimedia applications, (interactive whiteboards, multi-touch displays and tables, and the like), many of my friends and family members eyes glaze over. This is particularly true for people I know who are forty-ish or over.
Even if you are younger, if you never saw the cool technology demonstrated in the movie Minority Report, or if you have limited experience with video games, or if you haven't came within touching distance of an interactive whiteboard, the concept might be difficult to understand.
The reality?
Even people who have the opportunity to use surface computing technology on large screens do not take full advantage of it. Multi-touch screens are often used as single-touch screens, and interactive whiteboards in classrooms are often serve as expensive projector screens for teacher-controlled PowerPoint presentations.
Most importantly, there are few software developers who understand the surface computing approach, even with the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Most focus on traditional business-oriented or marketing applications, and have difficulty envisioning scenarios for surface computing. There is a need for a breath of fresh air!
Another factor is that not all people entrusted to market surface or touch screen computing fully understand it.
Despite a cool website showing off the goods, Microsoft's Surface multi-touch table has been slow to take off, limiting hope of bringing down the price tag to a price most families or schools could afford. (The picture above depicts an application for the Surface designed for health care professionals, not K-12 science education.)
Although you can't buy a Surface table for your family room, it is possible to buy a TouchSmart. HP's TouchSmart website is engaging and highlights some examples of touch-screen interaction, but most people don't seem to know about it. (Since this post was last written, there are many more touch and multi-touch options available to the public, such as the Dell, the iPad, etc.)
Unfortunately, you wouldn't have a clue that the HP TouchSmart exists browsing the aisles at Circuit City or Best Buy!
When I was shopping for my new TouchSmart, I noticed that from a distance, the TouchSmart looked just like the other larger flat-screen monitors filling up the aisles. The salespeople at both stores were not well-informed about the system. The only reason I knew bout the new TouchSmart was related to my obsession with interactive multimedia touch-screen applications- designing them, developing them, studying them, reading about them, blogging about them.... ; }
More thoughts:
After studying HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), and relating this knowledge to what I know as a psychologist, my hunch is that the "Window Icon Mouse Pointing-device" (WIMP) and keyboard input mind-set is embedded in our brains, to a certain extent. Like driving a car, it is something automatic and expected. This is true for users AND developers. (Update - See The Post WIMP Explorers' Club: Update of the Updates for a review of a discussion among passionate post WIMP folks)
Think about it.
Suppose one day, you were told that you no longer were allowed to control your car by turning on the ignition, steering the wheel, or using your feet to accelerate, slow down, or stop the car! Instead, you needed to learn a new navigation, integration, and control system that involved waving your hands about and perhaps speaking a few commands.
For new drivers who'd never seen a car before, this new system would be user-friendly and intuitive. Perhaps it would be quite easy for 16-year-old kids to wrap their heads around this concept. For most of us, no. Imagine the disasters we would see on our streets and highways!
When we think about how newer technologies are introduced to people, we should keep this in mind.
In my mind, spreading the word about surface computing is not a "if you build it, they will come" phenomenon, like the iPhone. We can't ignore the broader picture.
From my middle-age woman's vantage point, I believe that it is important that the those involved with studying, developing, or marketing surface computing applications realize that many of us simply have no point of reference other than our experiences with ATMs, airline kiosks, supermarket self-serve lanes, and the like. (The video clip at the very end of this post provides a good example of touch-screen technology gone wrong.) -UPDATE: additional videos were added to this post.
Be aware that there are substantial numbers of people who might benefit from surface computing who prefer to avoid the ATMs, airline kiosks, and self-serve grocery shopping.
Realize that the collective experience with technology, in many cases, has not been too pretty. Many people have had such user-unfriendly experiences with productivity applications, forced upon them by their employers, that any interest or desire to explore emerging technologies has been zapped.
My own exposure to interactive "surface" related technology was somewhat accidental.
A few years ago, a huge box was deposited into the room I worked in a couple of days a week as a school psychologist at a middle school. After a week or so, I became curious, and found out that it was a SmartBoard. Until then (2002!), I did not know that interactive whiteboards existed.
The boxed remained unopened in the room for the entire school year, but no worry. I played with the only other SmartBoard in the school, and found a couple at the high school where I also worked. I hunted for all of the applications and interactive websites that I could find, and tried them out. That is when I was hooked. I could see all kinds of possibilities for interactive, engaging subject area learning activities. I could see the SmartBoards potential for music and art classes. With my own eyes, I saw how the SmartBoard engaged students with special needs in counseling activities. (By the way, if you are working with middle school students, PBS Kid's ItsMyLife website activities work great on an interactive whiteboard.)
A few years have passed, and reflecting on all of my fun experiences with interactive whiteboards, with and without students, I now understand that many teachers still have had limited exposure to this technology.
This school year, many teachers are finding themselves teaching in classrooms recently outfitted with interactive whiteboards, scrambling along with educational technology staff development specialists, to figure out how it works best with various groups of students, and what sort of changes need to be made regarding instructional practice.
For the very first time, interactive whiteboards were installed in two classrooms at one of the schools I work at. One of the teachers I know thanked me for telling her about interactive whiteboards and sharing my resources and links.
If I hadn't let her know about this technology, she wouldn't have volunteered to have one installed in her classroom. It has transformed the way she teaches special needs students.
In the few months that she's used the whiteboard, I can see how much it has transformed the way the students learn. They are attentive, more communicative, and engaged. The students don't spend the whole day with the whiteboard - the interactive learning activities are woven into lessons at various times of the day, representing true technology integration.
Now let's see what happens when all-in-one touch-screen PC's are unleashed in our schools!
UPDATE: Take a look at a post I wrote for Innovative Interactivity just after SMART Technologies acquired NextWindow - the post describe in detail how interactive whiteboards are transforming learning and teaching in a program for students with special needs.
SMARTTechnologies Acquires NextWindow: A "smart window" to the world
There are some interesting changes going on at the intersection of HCI and educational technology research. I participated in a workshop at CHI 2010 last April and was impressed by what is going on in this area, around the globe: Next Generation of HCI and Education
Value of ethnographic research:
Ethnographic Research Informed Intel's Classmate PC
"Intel looked closely at how students collaborate and move around in classroom environments. The new tablet feature was implemented so that the device would be more conducive to what Intel calls “micromobility”. Intel wants students to be able to carry around Classmate PCs in much the same way that they currently carry around paper and pencil." -via Putting People First and Ars Technica
The video below is from Intel's YouTube Channel. Information about Intel's approach to ethnographic research in classrooms during the development of the Classroom PC is highlighted. This approach uses participatory design and allows the set of applications developed for the Classmate PC to reflect the needs of local students and teachers. Schools from many different countries were included in this study.
FYI: TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAYS: NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT!
Touch Screen Coke Machine at the Mall: 90 Seconds to get a Coke
User-Unfriendly Interactive Display in the Rain (Ballantyne Village Shopping Center)
User-Unfriendly Information Kiosk Interactive Map
BETTER EXAMPLES OF INTERACTIVE SCREENS:
Here are some interesting pictures from lm3labs, which are in my interactive usability hall of fame:
Samsung's new Omnia SDG i900 was re-created in a much larger size, using lm3lab's Ubiq'window touchless technology.For more about lm3labs, including several videoclips, take a look at one of my previous posts: Lm3Labs, Nicolas Leoillot, and Multimedia Interaction
Midwife Toad App on a Microsoft Surface, Discovery Place Science Center
TellTable: Digital Storytelling on the Surface: Microsoft Research, UK
DECEMBER 31, 2009 -Interactive Soda Machine for Fun
The interactive screen on the Coke machine attracted the attention of this young child. He loved spinning the image of the bottle. So did the dad! He said, "I'd like something like this for my home!". I told him about the HP TouchSmart - both the dad and the mom did not know that there were affordable all-in-one touch screens available, but they knew about SMARTboards, because their children's classrooms had them. Note: No one from this family actually purchased a soft drink. I was hoping to time how long it would take them to do so!
Some resources:
Multimedia, Multitouch, Gesture, and Interaction Resources (Mega-list, work in progress)
lm3labs (catchyoo, ubiq'window)
Sparkon (See members links and multi-touch projects)
(More information and resources can be found by doing a "multitouch" or related search on this blog or The World Is My Interactive Interface.)
"Natural user interfaces, gesture interaction, multi-touch, natural interaction, post WIMP examples and more..."
FYI: I visited the Ballantyne Village shopping center a couple of months ago to follow up on the interactive displays, including the one I tried to use while it was raining. The shopping center changed ownership, and the displays were replaced by the old-fashioned kind, pictured below:
Dec 19, 2009
UPDATED: More News, Videos, and Links about Multi-touch and Screen Technologies
UPDATED
More news about multi-touch and screen technologies!
"Holographic" Multitouch (Eatang Digital Technology)
Holographic muitltouch from eggwong on Vimeo
Eggwong's company is Eatang Digital Technology. Although most of the website is in Chinese, it looks like it provides interactive design services as well as software kits.
How to Build a 20" Multiitouch Screen in Three Weeks (Ben Unsworth - Globalcore)
How to Build a 20' Multitouch Screen in 3 Weeks from Ben Unsworth on Vimeo.
Globacore
Globacore used four 72" Blue Ocean Low Gain Screens 16:9 to create their twenty-foot multi-touch wall, which I think was also used for the "holographic" screen in the first video. The tracker and base flash API from the NUI-group were used in this system.
I wasn't sure if I'd heard about Blue Ocean screens. Much to my surprise, the company behind Blue Ocean is Nippura, located in Japan. Nippura has another office in Charlotte, N.C.
For years, Nippura's core business has been focused on creating "the world's largest acrylic panels, tunnels, cylinders and spheres for the professional aquarium industry", but is also focused on screen systems as well.
US Nippura/Blue Ocean Projection Screens
Blue Ocean screens were use in the second videos of this post. Below is some information the screens from the company's website:
"Blue Ocean® Projection Screens are the first ever to cast the screen into a hi-tolerance viewing plane centered between two ultra-clear panels of cell-cast acrylic, the same type of material used in hi-optic fighter jet canopies and the world’s largest aquariums. Blue Ocean® Projection Screens also offer something never before found in screens: self-rigidity. The thickness of each screen can be fabricated so that it maintains its form without external frames or tension systems. Frameless high definition projected images without borders amplify the infinite depth viewing experience. Because of its durability, outdoor applications of entertainment around the garden and pool are also possible. Normal wear and tear scratching has no long-term effect on the screens’ performance, and a ten year old screen, simply re-polished, will literally look and perform exactly as it did the day it left the factory."
Super High Definition Stereo Image using 4K Projection Systems (pdf)
Tetsuro Ogi, Hiroaki Daigo, So Sato, Yoshisuke Tateyama, Yasuaki Nishida, International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence 2008
NUITEQ
NUITEQ offers single and duo-touch plugins for Snowflake Suite that enables the software to run on NEXIO and NextWindow screens, including NextWindow's screens that are integrated in the HP TouchSmart and Dell Inspiron all-in-one PC's and others. SnowFlake Suite is also compatable with 3M Touch Systems, N-Trig, and Lumino. You can view the SnowFlake Suite application in action on NUITEQ's YouTube channel.
"NUITEQ's software product Snowflake Suite, which received a Stevie Awards finalist recognition for Best New Product or Service of the Year 2009 - Media & Entertainment, is available to end clients, software developers, system integrators, VAR's and OEM's. Snowflake operates on a wide variety of hardware technology platforms including rear camera based solutions, IR overlay systems, bending wave, surface acoustic wave (SAW), projected and surface capacitive, resistive and other touch technologies for small hand held mobile devices and larger scale interactive displays."
Recent news: NUITEQ Assists LTU Skelleftea at SACO event with new educational multi-touch desk
FingerTapps
Software platform for multi-touch solutions:
Video: FingerTapps on the Dell Inspiron 19
Dell Studio One 19: All-in-One Stunner Takes Japan
FingerTapps collaborated with DigitalDM Digital Publishing to support interactive media panels (IMAS) for use in retail settings, as well as digital print publishing.
NextWindow and All-In-One PC's:
NextWindow, the company that made the large single-touch display I used for a couple of class projects nearly three years ago, has really grown over the past few years. NextWindow provides optical touch screens for the HP TouchSmart PC, and also for the Dell Inspiron Studio One All-In-One PC, and the Dell Sx2210T desktop monitor. The next Dell with a NextWindow touch screen will be the Inspirion One 19, an all-in-one PC. You can find NextWindow touch screens in the Medion X9613, the NEC ValueStar W, and the Sony L Series. (NextWindow has Windows 7 certification for touch screens)
STANTUM and GUNZE USA
Stantum has partnered with Gunze USA, a manufacturer of resistive touch-panels, to co-design and deliver multi-touch products. "Gunze USA will provide these custom multi-touch modules to the North American market for use in industrial, automotive, defense, aerospace, medical, kiosk/point-of-sales, and other professional applications. Unlike capacitive multi-touch, Stantum’s technology is particularly well suited to these professional markets, thanks to its:
GESTURETEK
The video below is of an interactive 3D application created for the Gondwana Das Praehistorium in Schiffweler, Germany, and provides an simulation of what it might be like to be a flying ancient pterosaur of giant dragonfly. Two gamers can play at the same time. If you want to fly, you flap your arms, and navigate by leaning. You crouch to dive, and increase your speed by flapping your arms even faster:
GestureTek's 3D Interactive Flying and Virtual Game Experience for Gonwana Museum
This company always has something going on that looks fun and interactive. To get an idea this company's interactive work, take a look at the information on the GestureTek website links below. GestureTek has a variety product videos on the website.
GestureTek Health
GestureTek Mobile Gaming
GestureTek mobile gaming videos
GestureTek Product Summary
GestureTek in Science Centers, Aquariums, Zoos, and Visitor Centers
Lm3Labs
Lm3labs Air Strike Overview (Slideshare)
SNIBBE INTERACTIVE
Snibbe Interactive was founded by Scott Snibbe to develop social immersive media as a communication medium that incorporates the language of cinema and engages participation and interaction with others (and technology) through unencumbered body movements.
Get in the Action Prototype
Get in the Action Prototype - Snibbe Interactive from Oriol Ferrer Mesià on Vimeo.
Scott Snibbe's Social Immersive Media presentation at Stanford's Seminar on People, Computers and Design, 5/2009
'Scott Snibbe of Sona Research discusses a distinct form of augmented reality focused on social interaction: social immersive media. He discusses design principles and interaction techniques to create strong emotional responses and social engagement through visceral interaction. He also describes approaches to clearly communicate cultural and scientific ideas through the medium, and how to promote specific distinct social behavior in uses." -YouTube description
RELATED
Globacore "Globacore was founded by Ben Unsworth and Jeff Williams out of a passion for technology, art, and business. Globacore began as a web hosting and development company supporting the the technical needs of sports apparel startup VC Ultimate and it's associated companies."
Blue Ocean/ Nippura US Website
Blue Ocean Product Information (pdf)
3611 Tryclan Dr.
Charlotte, NC 28217
Phone: 704-561-9191
Web: www.usnippura.com
NEXTWINDOW
NextWindow's Touch Technologies Overview
Optical Touch and All-In-One PC's
News Release: NextWindow Patents (pdf)
NUITEQ
Natural User Interface Technologies AB(Headquarters)
Laboratorgränd 7
93162 Skellefteå
Sweden
3M's Touch Topics information site
Multi-touch@mmm.com
Natural User Interface Asia Pte Ltd (Asia office)
12 Little Road
#06-01 Lian Cheong Industrial Building
Singapore 536986
Phone: +65 6748 5245
Fax: +65 6748 7961
FINGERTAPPS
Contact: James Bell-Booth
james[at]fingertapps.com
+64 21 226 6399
www.fingertapps.com/
STANTUM
Slate PC Proof of Concept Datasheet (pdf)
Contact: Francois Jeanneau
Sales and Business Development
Director, Stantum North America
Berkeley, CA, USA
Cell: +1 (510) 928 56 17
f.jeanneau@stantum.com
LM3LABS
Website: http://lm3labs.com/ENG/index_eng.html
info@lm3labs.com
Europe:
Antipolis Innovation Campus
300, route des Cretes
06560 Sophia-Antipolis France
Hong Kong, China
+852-8198.8406
Australia
+61(02)8011.3342
USA: +1(646)461.6146
TGarden Square 409
3-5-26 Funabori
Edogawa-ku
134-0091 Tokyo, Japan
+81(0)3.3877.0779
SNIBBE INTERACTIVE
1073 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
+1 415 822 1442
sales@snibbeinteractive.com
Snibbe Interactive Blog
2010 Interactive Catalog (pdf)
HOLDING TANK
Peau Productions
Diffusers and Projection Screens Comparison Site
(Provides photos and video of various screens and diffusers used for optical-based multi-touch systems.)
NUI-Group
Wiki: Comparison of rear projection films
Forum Thread
Outdoor Media Company (China)
Products
Contact: Kuo Lin (?)
42x46 Multi-touch LCD Display
HIWAD TOUCH - Beijing Yhjn Science and Technology Co. LTD
Interactive Sandbox
"An interactive sand box or sand table for use in tactical training includes an automated control system and image generator so that infinitely variable visual images may be projected onto the contoured surface of the sand for training and preparation for action in the military field and disaster control, industrial planning, environmental protection, and similar situation."
Interactive Holographic Touch Screen
Beijing Yihejianing Science and Technology Co., Ltd
Address: Room 621, Jinyuan Modern shopping Mall, NO.1 Yuanda Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China
TE:8610-88892897，88892895
FAX:8610-88892867-801
Email: hxrong2001@hotmail.com
http://www.cnhci.cn
More news about multi-touch and screen technologies!
"Holographic" Multitouch (Eatang Digital Technology)
Holographic muitltouch from eggwong on Vimeo
Eggwong's company is Eatang Digital Technology. Although most of the website is in Chinese, it looks like it provides interactive design services as well as software kits.
How to Build a 20" Multiitouch Screen in Three Weeks (Ben Unsworth - Globalcore)
How to Build a 20' Multitouch Screen in 3 Weeks from Ben Unsworth on Vimeo.
Globacore
Globacore used four 72" Blue Ocean Low Gain Screens 16:9 to create their twenty-foot multi-touch wall, which I think was also used for the "holographic" screen in the first video. The tracker and base flash API from the NUI-group were used in this system.
I wasn't sure if I'd heard about Blue Ocean screens. Much to my surprise, the company behind Blue Ocean is Nippura, located in Japan. Nippura has another office in Charlotte, N.C.
For years, Nippura's core business has been focused on creating "the world's largest acrylic panels, tunnels, cylinders and spheres for the professional aquarium industry", but is also focused on screen systems as well.
US Nippura/Blue Ocean Projection Screens
Blue Ocean screens were use in the second videos of this post. Below is some information the screens from the company's website:
"Blue Ocean® Projection Screens are the first ever to cast the screen into a hi-tolerance viewing plane centered between two ultra-clear panels of cell-cast acrylic, the same type of material used in hi-optic fighter jet canopies and the world’s largest aquariums. Blue Ocean® Projection Screens also offer something never before found in screens: self-rigidity. The thickness of each screen can be fabricated so that it maintains its form without external frames or tension systems. Frameless high definition projected images without borders amplify the infinite depth viewing experience. Because of its durability, outdoor applications of entertainment around the garden and pool are also possible. Normal wear and tear scratching has no long-term effect on the screens’ performance, and a ten year old screen, simply re-polished, will literally look and perform exactly as it did the day it left the factory."
Super High Definition Stereo Image using 4K Projection Systems (pdf)
Tetsuro Ogi, Hiroaki Daigo, So Sato, Yoshisuke Tateyama, Yasuaki Nishida, International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence 2008
NUITEQ
NUITEQ offers single and duo-touch plugins for Snowflake Suite that enables the software to run on NEXIO and NextWindow screens, including NextWindow's screens that are integrated in the HP TouchSmart and Dell Inspiron all-in-one PC's and others. SnowFlake Suite is also compatable with 3M Touch Systems, N-Trig, and Lumino. You can view the SnowFlake Suite application in action on NUITEQ's YouTube channel.
"NUITEQ's software product Snowflake Suite, which received a Stevie Awards finalist recognition for Best New Product or Service of the Year 2009 - Media & Entertainment, is available to end clients, software developers, system integrators, VAR's and OEM's. Snowflake operates on a wide variety of hardware technology platforms including rear camera based solutions, IR overlay systems, bending wave, surface acoustic wave (SAW), projected and surface capacitive, resistive and other touch technologies for small hand held mobile devices and larger scale interactive displays."
Recent news: NUITEQ Assists LTU Skelleftea at SACO event with new educational multi-touch desk
FingerTapps
Software platform for multi-touch solutions:
Video: FingerTapps on the Dell Inspiron 19
Dell Studio One 19: All-in-One Stunner Takes Japan
FingerTapps collaborated with DigitalDM Digital Publishing to support interactive media panels (IMAS) for use in retail settings, as well as digital print publishing.
NextWindow and All-In-One PC's:
NextWindow, the company that made the large single-touch display I used for a couple of class projects nearly three years ago, has really grown over the past few years. NextWindow provides optical touch screens for the HP TouchSmart PC, and also for the Dell Inspiron Studio One All-In-One PC, and the Dell Sx2210T desktop monitor. The next Dell with a NextWindow touch screen will be the Inspirion One 19, an all-in-one PC. You can find NextWindow touch screens in the Medion X9613, the NEC ValueStar W, and the Sony L Series. (NextWindow has Windows 7 certification for touch screens)
STANTUM and GUNZE USA
Stantum has partnered with Gunze USA, a manufacturer of resistive touch-panels, to co-design and deliver multi-touch products. "Gunze USA will provide these custom multi-touch modules to the North American market for use in industrial, automotive, defense, aerospace, medical, kiosk/point-of-sales, and other professional applications. Unlike capacitive multi-touch, Stantum’s technology is particularly well suited to these professional markets, thanks to its:
- immunity to EMI issues, via easy coexistence with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth antennas around the screen;
- stylus input and high precision, enabling handwriting recognition; and
- ability to work flawlessly with gloves."
GESTURETEK
The video below is of an interactive 3D application created for the Gondwana Das Praehistorium in Schiffweler, Germany, and provides an simulation of what it might be like to be a flying ancient pterosaur of giant dragonfly. Two gamers can play at the same time. If you want to fly, you flap your arms, and navigate by leaning. You crouch to dive, and increase your speed by flapping your arms even faster:
GestureTek's 3D Interactive Flying and Virtual Game Experience for Gonwana Museum
This company always has something going on that looks fun and interactive. To get an idea this company's interactive work, take a look at the information on the GestureTek website links below. GestureTek has a variety product videos on the website.
GestureTek Health
GestureTek Mobile Gaming
GestureTek mobile gaming videos
GestureTek Product Summary
GestureTek in Science Centers, Aquariums, Zoos, and Visitor Centers
Lm3Labs
SNIBBE INTERACTIVE
Snibbe Interactive was founded by Scott Snibbe to develop social immersive media as a communication medium that incorporates the language of cinema and engages participation and interaction with others (and technology) through unencumbered body movements.
Get in the Action Prototype
Get in the Action Prototype - Snibbe Interactive from Oriol Ferrer Mesià on Vimeo.
Scott Snibbe's Social Immersive Media presentation at Stanford's Seminar on People, Computers and Design, 5/2009
'Scott Snibbe of Sona Research discusses a distinct form of augmented reality focused on social interaction: social immersive media. He discusses design principles and interaction techniques to create strong emotional responses and social engagement through visceral interaction. He also describes approaches to clearly communicate cultural and scientific ideas through the medium, and how to promote specific distinct social behavior in uses." -YouTube description
RELATED
Globacore "Globacore was founded by Ben Unsworth and Jeff Williams out of a passion for technology, art, and business. Globacore began as a web hosting and development company supporting the the technical needs of sports apparel startup VC Ultimate and it's associated companies."
Blue Ocean/ Nippura US Website
Blue Ocean Product Information (pdf)
3611 Tryclan Dr.
Charlotte, NC 28217
Phone: 704-561-9191
Web: www.usnippura.com
NEXTWINDOW
NextWindow's Touch Technologies Overview
Optical Touch and All-In-One PC's
News Release: NextWindow Patents (pdf)
Contact: David Villarina, NextWindow
+1 (925) 272-4530
dvillarina@nextwindow.com
dvillarina@nextwindow.com
NUITEQ
Natural User Interface Technologies AB(Headquarters)
Laboratorgränd 7
93162 Skellefteå
Sweden
Phone: +46 702865975
Fax: +46 851989240
mail@nuiteq.com
3M Touch Systems USFax: +46 851989240
mail@nuiteq.com
3M's Touch Topics information site
Multi-touch@mmm.com
Natural User Interface Asia Pte Ltd (Asia office)
12 Little Road
#06-01 Lian Cheong Industrial Building
Singapore 536986
Phone: +65 6748 5245
Fax: +65 6748 7961
FINGERTAPPS
Contact: James Bell-Booth
james[at]fingertapps.com
+64 21 226 6399
www.fingertapps.com/
STANTUM
Slate PC Proof of Concept Datasheet (pdf)
Contact: Francois Jeanneau
Sales and Business Development
Director, Stantum North America
Berkeley, CA, USA
Cell: +1 (510) 928 56 17
f.jeanneau@stantum.com
GUNZE USA
Product Overview
Contact:Gunze Electronics USA
2113 Wells Branch Parkway, #5400
Austin, Texas 78728
Tel: 512-990-3400 Fax: 512-252-1181
Product Overview
Contact:Gunze Electronics USA
2113 Wells Branch Parkway, #5400
Austin, Texas 78728
Tel: 512-990-3400 Fax: 512-252-1181
LM3LABS
Website: http://lm3labs.com/ENG/index_eng.html
info@lm3labs.com
Europe:
Antipolis Innovation Campus
300, route des Cretes
06560 Sophia-Antipolis France
Hong Kong, China
+852-8198.8406
Australia
+61(02)8011.3342
USA: +1(646)461.6146
TGarden Square 409
3-5-26 Funabori
Edogawa-ku
134-0091 Tokyo, Japan
+81(0)3.3877.0779
SNIBBE INTERACTIVE
1073 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
+1 415 822 1442
sales@snibbeinteractive.com
Snibbe Interactive Blog
2010 Interactive Catalog (pdf)
HOLDING TANK
Peau Productions
Diffusers and Projection Screens Comparison Site
(Provides photos and video of various screens and diffusers used for optical-based multi-touch systems.)
NUI-Group
Wiki: Comparison of rear projection films
Forum Thread
Outdoor Media Company (China)
Products
Contact: Kuo Lin (?)
42x46 Multi-touch LCD Display
HIWAD TOUCH - Beijing Yhjn Science and Technology Co. LTD
Interactive Sandbox
"An interactive sand box or sand table for use in tactical training includes an automated control system and image generator so that infinitely variable visual images may be projected onto the contoured surface of the sand for training and preparation for action in the military field and disaster control, industrial planning, environmental protection, and similar situation."
Interactive Holographic Touch Screen
Beijing Yihejianing Science and Technology Co., Ltd
Address: Room 621, Jinyuan Modern shopping Mall, NO.1 Yuanda Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China
TE:8610-88892897，88892895
FAX:8610-88892867-801
Email: hxrong2001@hotmail.com
http://www.cnhci.cn
Dec 12, 2011
UPDATE POST: Educational Interfaces, Software, and Technology: 2012 ACM-CHI Workshop Call for Papers/Presentations
There is still time left to submit your paper!
CALL FOR PAPERS
EDUCATIONAL INTERFACES, SOFTWARE, AND TECHNOLOGY 2012
3rd Workshop on UI Technologies and Educational Pedagogy
May 5-6 2012
in conjunction with ACM-CHI 2012, Austin, Texas
This will be our third annual workshop in conjunction with CHI 2012.
One of the primary goals of teaching is to prepare learners for life in the real world. In this ever changing world of technologies such as mobile interaction, cloud computing, natural user interfaces, and gestural interfaces like the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Kinect, people have a greater selection of tools for the task at hand. Teachers and students can leverage these tools to improve learning outcomes. Educational interfaces and software are needed to ensure that new technologies serve a clear purpose in the classrooms and homes of the future.
Since teachers are always looking for creative ways to engage 21st century learners, there needs to be an academic venue for researchers to discuss novel educational tools and their role in improving learning outcomes. This workshop aims at filling this void: combining the pedagogical expertise of the cooperative learning, and learning sciences communities with the technical creativity of the CHI, UIST and interactive surface communities. The objective of this workshop is to become a conference within two years
We invite authors to present position papers about potential design challenges and perspectives on how the community should handle the next generation of HCI in education.
Topics of interest include:
- Gestural input, multitouch, large displays
- Mobile Devices, response systems (clickers)
- Tangible, VR, AR & MR, Multimodal interfaces
- Console gaming, 3D input devices
- Co-located interaction, presentations
- Educational Pedagogy, learner-centric, Child Computer Interaction
- Empirical methods, case studies
- Multi-display interaction
- Wearable educational media
Website: http://smarttech.com/eist2012
Contact: Edward Tse, SMART Technologies, edwardtse@smarttech.com
RELATED
Educational Interfaces, Software, and Technology Workshop Organizers
 | Edward Tse, SMART Technologies |
 | Lynn V. Marentette, Union County Public Schools |
 | Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Cornell University |
 | Alex Thayer, University of Washington |
 | Jochen Huber, Technische Universität Darmstadt |
 | Max Mühlhäuser, Technische Universität Darmstadt |
 | Si Jung “Jun” Kim, University of Central Florida |
 | Quincy Brown, Bowie State University |
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