Fingertapps and NextWindow's Multi-Touch Firmware on the New HP Touchsmart PC,

Fingertapps is working on an application that utilizes NextWindow's multi-touch firmware, running on the second-generation HP Touchsmart PC. Fingertapps will be demonstrating their work in the NextWindow booth at Infocomm 2008 in Las Vegas, June 14-20.

Off-topic: Now I know why some people think I'm a Microsoft shill!

A while ago, I posted a response on another blog, and someone mistakenly thought that I was a Microsoft shill. Me?!

Now I know why.



When I was looking at my blog stats, I noticed that one of my visitors found a recent post via a Google search on microsoft new interactive technology. Curiously, the post was at the very top of the list:

New Interactive Technology: Tag Galaxy, Windows 7, PaperVision 3D, Microsoft Surface, Touch Screens, and Blog Posts Revisited

Results 1 - 10 of about 29,600,000 for microsoft new interactive technology. (0.12 seconds)

How did my post beat out over 29 million pages on the web?!

I've had an Apple computer, in one form or another, since 1985. When I decided to take a programming class a few years ago, I soon realized I had to adapt to the Windows world. I like C#, Silverlight, WPF, and XNA Game Studio. This does not make me a Microsoft shill.

I just happen to be overly passionate about interactive displays of all sizes, and fascinated with the possibilities of mult-touch. iPhones, touch-tables, touch-walls, devices that interact with displays (think Johnny Chung Lee), gesture + touch, urban screens, interactive exhibits, interactive way-finding... and the multimedia applications that support this sort of interaction.

I've written several posts about Apple's new technologies, like the iPod Touch and the new 3G iPhone. I'll be writing more about Apple as they research and develop flat panel displays:

"Apple is looking for a Senior Panel Process Engineer to lead the engineering activities to develop the new process and design for the multi-touch panel used in Apple products. This individual will serve as a focal point in the designing and the process development of advanced multi-touch panels from the concept to the product ramp."

I'd say I'm more of a cheerleader for all of those out there who are working so hard to create useful+cool technology for the future.

Update:
The Next Generation HP TouchSmart PC
The new TouchSmart PC's, which can display high definition content, aren't out on the market yet. HP is taking pre-orders.

NextWindow, a company that produces large interactive touch-screen displays, including those with multi-touch capabilities, was responsible for the touch-screen embedded in the TouchSmart PC.

Related:

HP Redefines Home Computing, Putting the Digital Lifestyle at People's Fingertips with New TouchSmart PC's

HP Introduces World's First Affordable Color-critical Display

MICOLE: Open source multi-modal, multi-sensory software

Here is a quick link to the following post on the TechPsych blog, via ICT Results

MICOLE: Open-source multi-modal software supports cooperative learning among sighted and visually impaired children

The new 3G iPhone: Expanding the Possibilities of Interactive Multimedia Communication

The new iPhone is filled with possibilities....In this post, I'm sharing some pictures of the iPhone that look interesting to educators and those of us who want to increase our interactive multimedia communication and entertainment when we are out and about.

The following pictures from a post I came across on the engadget website today, authored by Ryan Block, while he attended today at WWDC 2008. The new 3G iPhone, with a price of $199.00, was the focus of Steve Job's keynote. I've added a few links to the developers of new iPhone apps, where possible.


3G is fast



Apple offers MobileMe service for the iPhone, which is something most people on-the-go will appreciate:

"Everything you need. Anywhere you are."

"MobileMe stores your email, calendar, and contacts on a secure online server, or “cloud.” The cloud pushes the most current data to your iPhone, iPod touch, and computer so you’re always up to date. And your email, calendar, contacts, photos, and documents are accessible over the Internet through a set of easy-to-use web applications."

Push email, push calendar, and push contacts Web applications at me.com

MobileMe Gallery for photo sharing MobileMe iDisk for online document access

20GB of online storage

This would make the iPhone ideal for mobile learning! Here is an example of an application for science:





Great for musicians and music students who are away from their gear:


According to Ryan Block, this application is from Moo Cow Music. The application is called "Band". Here are the features, as listed on the Moo Cow Music website:

• Drums, bass, guitars, keyboards can all be played and recorded into one song from the same application.
• Multitouch - press up to five keys at once for complex chords.
• Animation shows keys being pressed, strings being struck, etc.
• Any instrument can be recorded, or overdubbed onto a previous recording.
• Erase any mistakes, then go back and overdub replacement notes.
• A configurable metronome can be enabled or disabled during recording.

Here is a video of the beta version of the application:

"Kroll", from Digital Legends Entertainment, runs on the iPhone and is an action-adventure fantasy game.


Sega's Super Monkey Ball on the iPhone


Apple iPhone Site

Link to video of Keynote


Verizon, can you hear me now? I want an iPhone!

Engaged Learning and Social Physics: Phun, an Interactive 2D Physics Sandbox

UPDATE 4/24/11:   Phun is commercially available and now optimized for use on the newer multi-touch, multi-user SMARTboards.  It is now known as Algodoo.

For those of you searching for interesting and engaging science activities for use on an interactive whiteboard or display, take a look at Phun. According to the website, "Phun is a playground for the creative mind where machines and toys can be easily created."

It was Emil Ernerfeldt's MSc Computer Science project, created at the Umeå University VR lab in Sweden, under the supervision of Kenneth Bodin.

The Phun application can be downloaded for free. The video provides a good overview of Phun's features, accompanied by soothing music that can you can download at no cost at http://phun.cs.umu.se/files/Phun_theme.mp3


From the creators of Phun:
"Phun is an educational, entertaining and somewhat (!) addictive piece of software for designing and exploring 2D multi-physics simulations in a cartoony fashion. It is part of our long term mission to bring visual physics based simulation to the masses. The application is developed for Umevatoriet, Umeås new science center, where it will run on a large interactive display, but you can also download it and run it on your own pc."

The beauty of Phun is the social aspect. Physics 2.0. There is a YouTube Phun group, where people share videos of their Phun creations. The Phun wiki provides a tutorial, a forum, and links. Phun-makers can share and rate their creations in the Phun Box.

Note: Phun is now part of Algoryx Simulation AB, a spin-off from Umea University. Algoryx focuses on interactive 3D multiphysics simulation. The free version of Phun will continue to be updated and supported, according to Emil Ernerfeldt.

Related Links:
Phun at Algoryx
Forum Thread: How Phun can be used in education
http://phun.cs.umu.se/wiki
Download Page (Mac, Win, Linux)

Emerging Interactive Technologies, Emerging Interactions, and Emerging Integrated Form Factors

Every so often I come across a blog that has been around for a while, but is a new discovery to me. If you are interested in interactive multimedia and emerging technology, and you haven't heard of Richard Banks, you will probably be pleased with his vast array of interesting posts!

After browsing around Richard Bank's blogs, I found that he works for Microsoft Research. Like me, he maintains more than one blog, and he blogs about similar topics.

Here is a view into his world:

rb.trends: tracking future technology experience
rb.work: technology, design and research
rb.log: family, photography, architecture etc.

One of Richard's recent posts brought me back to my musings about interactive surfaces:

Via Richard Banks and Gizmodo: A Touch Screen Poker Table from Hard Gaming

If it is possible to program an application to handle the metrics that support poker, then it is possible to program a multi-user application for work or education, and have this application integrated into any type display, according to need.

The form factor above would be useful for team meetings or collaborative project planning, especially during group decision-making or policy planning activities that involve data analysis or information visualization.

Could this concept be modified to fit the form of a kidney table for use in education? Think about it. We could combine the best features of surface computing with the best features of multi-user video games.

Rationale? Video-game applications can handle the metrics of multi-user interaction, which would be ideal for tracking student progress and interaction. Touch interaction would enable young children with an easy way to access the application- or all of the information that will be available on the multi-touch web of the future, without learning first to type.

(Touch and gesture interaction could help us move towards the implementation of the Internet of Things)

Could this concept be transformed for use by two people collaborating on an electronic drafting table?




If you are a NUI Group member, think about this!


Note: I came up with the phrase, "multi-touch web of the future" as I was typing this post. I guess I didn't invent it - I looked it up and found Andrew Foote's post, "The Multi-Touch Web"

I'm in.


Somewhat Related.......

More for the tech-curious:

Interactive data visualization in Second Life

| View | Upload your own

Idle together "Technology blog oriented towards good design and impressive web applications"

Apple Developing Full Multi-Touch Macs - Apple Insider

More for the tech-savvy:

Multi-touch gestures in the Factor UI (Apple)- by Pestov. Includes code.

NSResponder Modifications: Swipe, Rotate, and Magnify, by Elliott Harris, a member of the NUI Group, I think.

Web Development Guidelines for iPhone (lots of good info, with video clips and code)

Web 3D Consortium

Unity 3D kit for the

Google's Android

Multi-touch Web Consortium (in my dreams)

Gesture Web Consortium (in my dreams)