Twenty years ago, the icon-window-mouse-keyboard quartet we are so familiar with today, changed the way we communicate and interact. It appeared on the Macintosh, then on Microsoft's Windows and into every desktop and notebook computer in the last two decades or so.
For the past few years, researchers have been developing 3D windowing interfaces. Project Looking Glass and Beryl are an examples of this effort, as is the work of Jeff Han. So it hasn't been a question of, "can we do it". The question is: how useful would it be?
Apple Inc., the maker of such iconic devices as the Macintosh and the iPod, launched the iPhone during Macworld last January 2007, which they promised will revolutionize the way we use, the umm... phone... to call. hhhmmm.
What has the iPhone got to do with a new window interface?
This is the biggest, most exciting potential of the iPhone and it is a feature called "Multi-Touch". This piece of technology allows the user to interact with the computer with just using your hands. Too science fiction-Minority Report, you say?
For the past few years, researchers have been developing 3D windowing interfaces. Project Looking Glass and Beryl are an examples of this effort, as is the work of Jeff Han. So it hasn't been a question of, "can we do it". The question is: how useful would it be?
Apple Inc., the maker of such iconic devices as the Macintosh and the iPod, launched the iPhone during Macworld last January 2007, which they promised will revolutionize the way we use, the umm... phone... to call. hhhmmm.
What has the iPhone got to do with a new window interface?
This is the biggest, most exciting potential of the iPhone and it is a feature called "Multi-Touch". This piece of technology allows the user to interact with the computer with just using your hands. Too science fiction-Minority Report, you say?
Macrumors.com in March 2006 posted this on their site:
"Operation of a computer with touch screen interface". Again, individuals at Apple appear to be spending a lot of time on the potential interface for users of a touch screen device. The patent describes the the possible advantage of touch screens by being able to "glean much more information about a user's actions" than from conventional keyboards.
The methods described are intriguing in that it appears that there could be a level of refinement to the touch interface that has not been present in previous devices. Again, Apple describes the utility of offering a multi-touch capable display which can process multiple figures and gestures to provide additional information.
A few days ago, BingeBoy posted this amazing video:
In the next three months or so, Apple is not only launching iPhone... it is also expected to launch the next version of its flagship software: Mac OS X 10.5 (code name:Leopard). The rumor mill has been buzzing with the tantalizing possibility... that Multi-Touch could make its way to the desktop sooner than most of us may think, "as in, is three months or so, too soon?"
what makes people say this? A quick look at this short preview from Apple about one of the corner stones of Leopard, called Core Animation promises that Leopard will not only bring a better User Interface but also this same capability is found on the iPhone. How difficult would it be to enable multi-touch for the desktop when you've done it on a small device like iPhone?
The potential for this kind of user interface will usher in a new universe of how we interact with computers. No longer will applications be chained to the limitations of the GUI and the keyboard-mouse-display. we can build interfaces that are application specific. For example, you can interact with your photos as if you were holding them and shuffling them or arranging them as you would, developed film. the same with video, with music. you can re-arrange your report to your boss in potentially the same manner and configure, theoretically, a keyboard you are comfortable with writing. the possibilities are endless.
With two applications known to be using it, Time Machine (which will be part of Mac OS X 10.5 is an animated way to interact with your data backup) and iPhone multi-touch will be part of our daily work-flow. Whether or not Multi-Touch ready displays will be around, or if Leopard will have Multi-Touch for the desktop enabled, the fact that this piece of technology will be functional in a computer called iPhone, only time will tell when we can expect to be touching our data, our photos, our music, our videos, and working with it on the desktop.
what makes people say this? A quick look at this short preview from Apple about one of the corner stones of Leopard, called Core Animation promises that Leopard will not only bring a better User Interface but also this same capability is found on the iPhone. How difficult would it be to enable multi-touch for the desktop when you've done it on a small device like iPhone?
The potential for this kind of user interface will usher in a new universe of how we interact with computers. No longer will applications be chained to the limitations of the GUI and the keyboard-mouse-display. we can build interfaces that are application specific. For example, you can interact with your photos as if you were holding them and shuffling them or arranging them as you would, developed film. the same with video, with music. you can re-arrange your report to your boss in potentially the same manner and configure, theoretically, a keyboard you are comfortable with writing. the possibilities are endless.
With two applications known to be using it, Time Machine (which will be part of Mac OS X 10.5 is an animated way to interact with your data backup) and iPhone multi-touch will be part of our daily work-flow. Whether or not Multi-Touch ready displays will be around, or if Leopard will have Multi-Touch for the desktop enabled, the fact that this piece of technology will be functional in a computer called iPhone, only time will tell when we can expect to be touching our data, our photos, our music, our videos, and working with it on the desktop.
1 comment:
a bit of a snafu. Jeff Han's company, Perceptive Pixel will be manufacturing them (no date on availability). you can find the page here: http://multi-touchscreen.com/
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