Multi-Touch Technology

Earlier this year when Steve Jobs demonstrated Apple's new phone at Macworld, the feature that captivated the world’s attention was the touch-screen. Otherwise known as multi-touch, it is a technology which facilities human-computer interaction- by the user directly touching symbols/icons on a touch-sensitive screen. A multi-touch screen has multiple synchronized touch points and is backed up by software, which is able to interpret these touches. However Apple’s iPhone is not the only device using multi-touch technology, the full power of the technology is realized on a much larger scale.

A large-scale multi-touch screen was a project started several years ago by Jeff Han who was a research scientist at New York University. It was a breakthrough for touch-screen technology that was introduced earlier for the use in tablet PCs and personal digital assistants (PDAs). When this technology was introduced it fell victim of too many limitations and clumsy recognition of a touch area – ultimately making it not popular with the customers However, Mr. Han was able to over come these limitations and propose multi-touch screen solution thus significantly increasing the flexibility and versatility of this data entry mode. Apple and the iPhone further advanced it to the point where it allows end-user to zoom in or out using two fingers in a continuous manner providing a more direct mapping than with a single-point device like a mouse.

In coming years it is expected that applications ranging from interactive whiteboards to touch-screen tables will be introduced. All of these new devices when combined with the applications could allow large-scale collaboration among people. Such collaborations could take many forms, from animation collaborations at which six hands can mould the face of a monster to helping patients who have experienced a stroke to learn and perform simple motor function using interaction made possible by the multi-touch screens. For organizations, multi-touch screens will allow them to have global interactive brainstorming sessions through a network of multi-touch whiteboards.

Not only will multi-touch screen change the way businesses interact with each other, but also it should revolutionize the way in which the citizen interacts with their own technology. This last point can be exemplified by how Apple updated its classic iPod to the iPod Touch, a multi-touch-screen mp3 player. Also since Apple’s introduction of the iPhone there has been wide spread rumor that the company will introduce new iMac computer where multi-touch technology replaces classical.

Despite all the advantages of multi-touch, there is a downside to this technology. The initial cost of the new technology can be seen as a major issue, especially for personal users. With Apple’s iPhone already costing users $300.00 (US) or more, the price is significantly higher than what average cell phone costs. There is also a possibility that users will wait to buy this new technology once the ‘bugs’ have been weeded out. If this is the case some would worry that multi-touch phones could find the same fate as touch-screen PDA’s did several years ago. The popularity of Apple’s new forays into multi-touch technology however seem to win skeptic customers and it might be expect that multi-touch screens will have a wide-spread user base.

References:

Han, Jeff. Multi-Touch Interaction Research. New York University,
January 2007. http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/

Han, Jefferson Y. Multi-touch. New York University, February 2006.
http://cs.nyu.edu/%7Ejhan/

Iphone. Apple Computers. http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Lane, Slash. Apple's multi-touch technology seen spawning "mega-platform".
AppleInsider, March 13, 2007.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/03/13/apples_multi_touch_technology_seen_spawning_mega_platform.html

Multi-touch. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch

Multi-touch Technology. http://www.multitouchtechnology.com/

Sandoval, Greg. Falling revenue for cell phone makers Growth in cell phone sector won't return to current level until 2009, predicts research firm iSuppli. CNET News.com, January 11, 2006.
http://www.news.com/Falling-revenue-for-cell-phone-makers/2100-1039_3-6026127.html