Update: Video of My PlayHome App and 19-Month-Old Toddler

This little guy "plays" iPad about once or twice a week. The video shows him with the My PlayHome app. It is interesting to see how much he remembered from the previous week!


In the near future, I plan to write a few posts about the apps that I've used with students with special needs.  I will also touch on a few apps that are great for toddlers and "twos".

Leap Motion: Low Cost Gesture Control for Your Computer Display

Jessica Vascellaro, of the Wall Street Journal, reports about gesture,  motion. and even object control for computers, highlighting the work of  Leap Motion and Flutter.




Apparently the Leap Motion sensor is less expensive than Microsoft's Kinect. It can track movements down to 1/100 of a millimeter and can track fingers and movement. It handles interaction with 8 cubic feet of space.


Below is a video from the Leap Motion website:






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FYI:  Do a search and you'll find many more articles and posts about Leap Motion!

NUITEQ's Latest Multitouch Showreel: Snowflake Suite

I've been following a number of people that have been working in the area of natural user interfaces and interaction for many years.  An example of this work is NUITEQ, a company lead by Harry van deer Veen.  Below is NUITEQ's most recent show reel of Snowflake Suite, an off-the-shelf multitouch SDK.


Here is the description of the software from the naturaluserinterface YouTube channel:


"NUITEQ's award-winning multitouch software product Snowflake Suite comes off the shelf with 30+ apps, a free SDK to develop your own multitouch software apps and its content is easy to customize. The solution is offers high performance, stability, quality and comes with dedicated support. Apps includes presentation, productivity and creativity tools as well as games. The software can be used in different scenarios such as corporate presentations, exhibitions, entertainment, education, public spaces, consumer electronics, retail and digital signage."

FYI: Tutorials about the user of Snowflake Suite can be found on the naturaluserinterface YouTube channel. 


Harry van der Veen has been sharing his NUI journey journey since 2007 on his Multitouch blog.

Camera-less Tabletop Computing with Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft® Surface® with PixelSense™

Here is the press release: 
Next Generation of Microsoft Surface Available for Pre-Order in 23 Countries
"Software developers interested in creating solutions for the Samsung SUR40 can get started immediately by visiting the Surface Developer Center. The site provides free and easy access to the Surface 2.0 software developer kit, featuring the Input Simulator, which enables developers to write Surface applications on any Windows 7 machine, as well as other helpful developer-related resources. There are already hundreds of highly skilled Surface software development partners that can be found at http://www.surface.com."

Photos: Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft® Surface®; PopSci, Graham Murdoch

(I've listed Microsoft Surface partners at the end of this post and plan to share more about the latest applications for surface computing in the near future.)


The following product information was taken from the Samsung website:

40" Surface Experience 
"Samsung SUR40 is the new generation of Microsoft® Surface® experience featuring PixelSense™ technology, which gives LCD panels the power to see without the use of cameras. Building from the innovation of the first version of Microsoft® Surface® and Samsung’s leading display technology, it is now possible for people to share, collaborate and explore together using a large, thin display that recognizes fingers, hands and other objects placed on the screen." 


PixelSense™ 
"PixelSense™ allows an LCD display to recognize fingers, hands, and objects placed on the screen, including more than 50 simultaneous touch points. With PixelSense™, pixels in the display see what’s touching the screen and that information is immediately processed and interpreted."


Resolution:             1920 x 1080 
Viewing Angle:       (H/V) 178 / 178° (CR ≥ 10) 
CPU:                     Athlon X2 Dual-Core 245e (2.9GHz) 
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional  x64 


GPU:        AMD HD6750M 
N/B:         AMD RS780E 
S/B:         AMD SB710 


Storage:                  SATA2 320 GB 
Memory:                 DDR3 4 GB
USB:                      4 USB 2.0 
VGA:                     Out HDMI Ethernet: 100 / 1000 
Audio Codec:         Realtek ALC262 Azalia CODEC


Product Dimensions (With Stand):            1,095 x 728 x 707.4 mm 
Product Dimensions (Without Stand):       1,095 x 102.5 x 707.4 mm 
Shipment Dimensions:                            1,214 x 299 x 832 mm 


Product Weight:     35 Kg 
Shipment Weight:  45.4.Kg


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Revisiting Good Blogs: IDEUM update

Jim Spadaccini is the director of Ideum and is responsible for the Ideum blog, which is well worth reading if you are interested in creative use of multi-touch, gesture, and interactive multimedia applications.  Jim also serves as the principal investigator of the Open Exhibits project, a non-profit open source, multi-touch, multiuser software initiative, which includes a free software development kit (SDK) for museums, students, nonprofits, and educational use.


Here are a few links to posts from the Ideum blog:
Building a High-Resolution Multi-touch Wall: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,  Part 4 and Part 5.
Ideum Blog
Events at the The Tech and the Maxwell Museum
Open Exhibits, Year Two

The Open Exhibits Research and Design blog is worth reading, as it often includes Jim Spadaccini's words of wisdom and some interesting video clips.


More about IDEUM
Ideum will be involved in an upcoming day-long conference at the Tech Museum on Tuesday, November 15th (2011), Building Interfaces for the New Decade  Conference San Jose, California, 11/15/11

Ideum is working on interconnectivity between devices, as shown below, where people are connecting their iPhones to a multi-touch table:


Here is a video about Ideum's Tiny Drifters exhibit,  7 foot multi-touch wall at the Monterey Bay Aquarium:




Here is a promotional video about Ideum's rugged MT-55 multi-touch table. It holds up to the interaction of thousands of museum visitors.  

MULTITOUCH NEWS: NUITEQ's interactive display at a business park; Innovation Now's multitouch anatomy application

Multitouch Display for Business Science Park Aurorum, by NUITEQ

"NUITEQ developed a customized multi-touch software solution for Corporate Reception / Lounge Areas for Business Science Park Aurorum in Luleå, based on the award-winning Snowflake Suite framework. In addition to the software, NUITEQ delivered and installed a 32 touch points multitouch dreaMTouch LCD from Germany based Elektrosil."-NUITEQ

Multitouch Solution for Corporate Reception/Lounge areas based on Snowflake Framework

Harry van der Veen, Multitouch Blog, 8/19/11

Multitouch Anatomy by Innovation Now

"Virtual anatomy surface computer in the shape of autopsy table that show and enable the user to use hand gestures to do the anatomy process virtually." -Innovation Now

Homam Alghorani, CEO, Innovation Now Sdn Bhd

"Microsoft is Imagining a NUI Future". You can, too!

Microsoft is Imagining a NUI Future
Steve Clayton, Next at Microsoft Blog, 1/26/11


"Our research shows that the vast majority of people polled in both developed and emerging markets see great potential for NUI applications beyond entertainment. This is especially true in China and India, where 9 out of 10 respondents indicate they are likely to use NUI technology across a range of lifestyle areas – from work, education and healthcare, to social connections, entertainment and the environment. We believe that taking technology to the next billion can be aided by NUI – making technology more accessible and more intuitive to a wider audience". - Steve Clayton, Microsoft


The people at Microsoft don't own the concept!  I'm a member of the NUI Group (May, 2007) and SparkOn.  Both are on-line communities where you can find people who live and breathe NUI, learn about their work, and even share designs and code. If you are intrigued by NUI - as a designer, developer, or user, please join us.

Note: 
I've been an evangelist and cheerleader for the NUI cause for many years.  If you search this blog for "post-WIMP", "NUI", "multi-touch", "gesture", "off-the-desktop", "natural user interaction", "natural user interface", or even "DOOH", you'll be provided with an overwhelming number of posts that include videos, photographs, and links to NUI-related resources, including scholarly articles.  There is a small-but-growing number of people from many disciplines, quietly working on NUI-related projects.

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Microsoft Plans a Natural Interface Future Full of Gestures, Touchscreens, and Haptics
Kit Eaton, Fast Company, 1/26/112
Rethinking Computing (video)
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Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It" - Revised
Touch Screen Interaction in Public Spaces:  Room for Improvement, if "every surface is to be a computer".

Osmosis: Multi-touch systems for... everywhere!

Not long ago I had the opportunity to chat with Stuart McLean, the founder of Osmosis, a company that delivers customized multi-touch systems of hardware and software that support human-centered natural user interaction.   Stuart has many years of experience working in more traditional IT/business roles, and knows from this experience that there is  better way to support  human computer interaction, including interaction between people.

Like many of us in the "NUI" community, Stuart was impressed by the video of Jeff Han's 2006 TED Talk, which demonstrated a variety of awesome multi-touch, multi-user applications on a high-resolution drafting table.  Stuart saw the importance of natural user interfaces and interaction and became involved with the NUI Group, a "global research community focused on the open discovery of natural user interfaces". 

Unlike traditional tech companies, Osmosis is a collaboration between a global network of engineers, designers, and developers who share the "NUI" vision. This collaboration enables the company to provide solutions for clients across a range of countries, cultures, and domains.


Below is a photo-gallery of some of the applications and systems developed by Osmosis:


Multi-touch by Osmosis

GALLERY

As you can see from the gallery photos, Osmosis provides a range of possibilities for their clients and potential clients.  All of the displays are high-definition.  Some are projection-systems, and others are displays with multi-touch sensing technology.  Since the construction is modular, a variety of form factors are available.  High-quality surround and domed sound systems are available.  Applications include information kiosks, point of sale/digital signage, hospitality, presentation and training, education, and audio-visual performance and production.  Osmosis also provides applications that support interaction with tangible objects.

Below are two videos that give a taste of what Osmosis is all about:

OSMOSIS DEMO REEL

Demo Reel from Osmosis on Vimeo.

MULTI-TOUCH EVERYWHERE

MT Everywhere from Osmosis on Vimeo.

I can see where some of these applications would be great in K-12 educational settings.  Just look at the joy on the faces of the kids in the Multi-Touch Everywhere video!

(Short video clips of the Osmosis applications in action can be found in the showcase page of the company's website.)

Settlers of Catan Game by Vectorform Game Studio, on a Microsoft Surface

Vectorform worked with Catan to develop the digital version of the Settlers of Catan for Microsoft's Surface:

The game supports a range of gestures and interactions that are similar to the real game, but without the need to keep up with all of the parts and pieces!



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A New Frontier for the Settlers of Catan
Vectorform to Launch "The Settlers of Catan" for Microsoft Surface"
Lindsay Ruthven, Vectorform Blog 8/2/10
"Features:
• Full multi-touch from the Microsoft Surface allows all players to interact with their elements of the board at once.
• A digital playing surface breathes new life into the Catan experience through graphics and animations.
• “State-free-trade” allow players to swap cards without entering modes or pressing buttons, keeping the experience as pure as possible.
• Customized art unifies the multi-touch interface with Mayfair’s 4th Edition release of The Settlers of Catan to create a seamless play experience.
• Integration with real-world objects to maintain the original Catan board game feel."

Settlers of Catan