technology update

Multitouch displays: how and why?

Large format displays with multitouch capabilities are now appearing on the market, but who is likely to buy them and what will they use them for? AV News digs deep and looks at the hardware options for multitouch, the software environment and the limitations of its deployment.

t would be nice to think that Microsoft’s new found inter- est in digital signage (see page 11 for details) prompted them on to build multitouch into their OS just for the AV com- munity. The reality is that the inclusion of multitouch support in Windows 7 has much more to do with tablet PCs and smart phones than it does with kiosks and video walls. Microsoft’s version of mul- titouch has its origins in Bill Gates’ announcement of Surface in May 2007. Surface employs touch, multitouch and gesture capabilities to provide users with a natural way to interact directly with computing, com- munications and display devices. Elements of surface have been incorporated into Windows 7, creating a widely available enabling technology for inter- active displays for deployment everywhere from education to nightclubs.

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New applications

This widespread appeal is based on three important con- siderations. The first is that multitouch offers a whole new way of interacting with devices and content. Simple touch just provides the means of initiating or stopping an action, with lim- ited ability to interact with the device or content. Multitouch offers the capability, for exam- ple, of manipulating content by sorting, resizing moving and even distorting.

tion. Multitouch displays can also emulate a diversity of famil- iar devices, ranging from a piano keyboard to a gaming table. The final, and perhaps most important consideration, is that interaction with a multi- touch display requires next to no knowledge of computers. It is a very inclusive technology, through which content can be interrogated and manipulated without resorting to a mouse, a keyboard or specialist applica- tion knowledge.

This deployment of multitouch technology (above) provided an enhanced interactive experience for up to 16 simultaneous users of the vertical screen on this exhibition booth, plus detailed explanations of the exhibitor’s products on the multitouch tables.

Developers

While best known for their gesture technology, Canadian developers GestureTek are also pioneers of multitouch, with a number of patents for both the style of multitouch tables and surfaces and methods of interaction.

The company has licensed its technologies and patents

to Microsoft for the Xbox 360, Sony for the Playstation Eyetoy, Hasbro for the ION Educational Game System and NTT DoCoMo for their mobile phones. In Japan, the DynaMedia digital signage network is based on GestureTek licenses, and fur- ther announcements of license agreements specific to multi- touch are anticipated.

The company has developed a range of multitouch tools based on Windows 7 for both its vertical and table format displays. These are used to build custom appli- cations for clients, to enable then to create their own applica- tions and to run other Windows 7 compatible applications in the Gesturetek environment. Patti Jordan, GestureTek’s director of marketing and com- munication, explained that: “This is a very diverse tool set that works for people who want to find and run an application that already exists in the mar-

ment of Windows 7.” (See the box below for full details of mul- titouch support in Windows 7.)

Touch or multitouch?

3M’s M2256PW (above) is Windows Touch AQ- tested for 20-plus fingers.

Multitouch applications sup- port multiple users. As well as offering increased capacity it can also introduce a social aspect to interaction. Signage applications could, for exam- ple, employ aspects of gaming to increase attraction and reten-

he new hardware and API elements in Windows 7 allow applications to receive multitouch input, enabling them to detect and respond to multiple simultaneous touch events on the visible surface. As well as the now familiar zooming and pinch- ing, the latest release sup- ports a set of touch ‘messag- es’ including ‘touch-down’, ‘touch-up’, and ‘touch-move’ actions.

Multitouch features in Windows 7

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touch input. In addition, mul- titouch gesture messages will be added to the existing list of window messages. Messages are sent or posted to appropri- ate application windows when a user input is recognised as a gesture.

The OS reports the action and position of touch messag- es to applications, specifying the identity of simultaneous touch points. Messages can be generated by pen or raw

Dedicated API functions encapsulate the details for creation and consumption of these messages. Microsoft has done it this way so that the information associated with the message can change in the future without requir- ing developers to update applications that already consume the message. By applying the multitouch

functionality available in Windows 7, developers can create applications in three tiers of specialisation: 1. Legacy applications in the first tier have no optimised support for multitouch. These applications will use generic handlers for gesture input and will translate those messages into window automation. 2. The applications in the second tier have limited optimisation for specific mes- sages. For example, these applications will use the cen- tre point of a pinch or zoom gesture, rather than zoom directly to the centre of a picture.

The GestTable (above) – GestureTek’s

42” LCD, MS Surface Toolkit for Windows Touch compatible multitouch table supports Windows 7 HID and TUIO output.

3. Fully multitouch capa- ble applications make up the third tier. These applications will be designed specifically for use only on multitouch hardware; for example, those where multitouch gestures and multiple input points are used to manipulate objects on screen. With this tiered approach, Microsoft envisages a grad- ual migration to multitouch in applications which suit the technology while preserv- ing legacy solutions. Hence, applications can be Windows 7 multitouch compliant while not offering full multitouch capabilities.

ket, as well as for people who want to create their own applica- tions, and especially for those who wish GestureTek to create applications for them. “We also offer to all our customers our own library of custom practical multitouch applications that can be used in specific industry sectors, such as retail or advertising.” Jordan explains that care has to be taken when defining terms in this area of technology: “Our solutions allow for full multi- touch at any number of points, whereas some other technolo- gies are limited to one or two touches. These are still refer- enced as ‘multitouch’ because that is the minimum require-

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June 2010

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So is a touchscreen capable of two simultaneous touch points really multitouch? Simon Perry of Displaylite thinks that there is confusion in the market- place: “I think it’s important that you explain the differ- ence between touch and multi touch. In our experience, this is causing a lot of confusion currently in the market and the situation is not helped by a lack of agreed standards in the industry.” To make the point, 3M refers to two simultaneous touch points as ‘two touch’ and not multi- touch. The touch terminology page on the 3M website (www. touchtopics.com) explains the difference and Perry finds it a very useful reference site. Perry says that DisplayLite tends to support the 3M view: “Some of the software community we talk to are currently developing true multitouch, multi-user applica- tions. They are already aware of the differences between ‘two touch’ and ‘multi touch’ but are are often left confused when it comes to sourcing a suitable touchscreen.”

Perry says that, currently, there is a lack of hardware capable of supporting more than three simultaneous touches (large for- mat in particular).

Hardware

Of the available hardware, GestureTek has developed both projection and LCD large format display hardware for true mul- titouch, but Jordan concedes that LCD has advantages in applications, like retail, where there is high ambient light. The company’s most recent releases include a freestanding multitouch display with a 70” screen. It features a stream- lined base that measures 22” deep, making it suitable for retail and other small spaces. Jordan says that the unit is ‘plug and play’ and produces bright, flicker-free images even in harsh lighting environments.

The large format of the screen allows content providers to display simultaneous digital signage, for branding and adver- tising, as well as interactive information for way-finding or Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16