Multitouch user interfaces are slowly finding their way into all kinds of devices, not just phones and tablets. And thanks to researchers at MIT and the Max Planck Institute who’ve developed a printable sensor that can be easily cut down to size with a regular old pair of scissors, any device or appliance you can think of could soon be enhanced with multitouch controls.
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If you weren’t impressed by the rest of the wares shown off today by Microsoft at their Surface 2 event, there’s one accessory you must have missed. This is the Surface Remix Project – one of a line of devices that’ll be coming from the company in the near future to make use of the […]
A three-button mouse that doesn’t actually have any buttons sounds like an oxymoron or some sort of geeky riddle. However, that is exactly what Logitech has created with its new Ultrathin Touch Mouse T630 and T631.
These two mice are absolutely identical in functionality – the difference between the two is that the T630 is black and the T631 is white, though Logitech is targeting the T630 to Windows 8 users, and the T631 to Mac users. Logitech offers software to support gestures for both operating systems.
Since the smooth top of the sleek and portable mouse has no buttons, it can be used for multitouch navigation. The mouse connects to your computer using Bluetooth and features sleek lines, brushed aluminum, and a thin profile that makes it highly portable. It can also be paired to multiple devices and can switch between those devices with the flick of a switch thanks to Logitech’s Easy-Switch Technology. The sounds like the perfect mouse for on-the-go types who value looks and performance.
Keyboards and synthesizers are some of the most complex electronic musical instruments. Even the basic ones are loaded with a variety of tweaks that help you achieve a variety of sounds. But unlike a guitar where you can bend, pluck or hammer the strings to modify the sound on the fly, keyboards and synths require you to make your adjustments using separate sliders or knobs. This is where TouchKeys come in.
Andrew McPherson and his colleagues at the Queen Mary University of London’s Augmented Instruments Laboratory came up with TouchKeys. These multitouch sensors stick to standard-size keys via an adhesive backing. They’ll work on keyboards and synthesizers that can output in MIDI or OSC. The sensors can detect up to three simultaneous touch points per key and can even distinguish whether it’s being touch by the fingertip or the pad of the finger (presumably by the area covered by the touch). This not only gives you a more convenient way to tweak your sound, it lets you adjust your instrument to your needs instead of the other way around.
Pledge at least £195 (~$305 USD) on Kickstarter to get a set of TouchKeys as a reward. You can also pledge to get a full TouchKey instrument if you have the cash.
A few years ago we took a look at Pranav Mistry’s Mouseless, a prototype for a camera-based pointing device. Now, a startup called Haptix Touch is raising money on Kickstarter for a very similar – and possibly better – product. It’s called the Haptix, and I would love to trade my mouse for it.
Haptix turns any surface into a multitouch interface. It connects to computers via USB and uses two CMOS image sensors and a patent-pending algorithm. Like Mouseless, Haptix also has an infrared tracking mode for low light situations. In my brief chat with Haptix Touch Co-Founder Darren Lim, he said that the Haptix can track and assign different functions to up to 10 objects. For example, you can map your index finger to the mouse cursor, your thumb for left click, and so on. You can even tell it to ignore an object. This means you can use your table or desk as a touchpad, use a pen to draw or sketch in an image editing program or – my favorite – use your keyboard as your mouse.
Pledge at least $65 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Haptix controller as a reward. The current version of Haptix works with Windows 8 and other touch-optimized programs out of the box. Lim said it will support Android and OS X devices by the time it’s commercially available, which is hopefully near the end of 2013. Lim also said they will release the developer API and dev kits after Haptix is launched.
As much as we lust after 4K monitors, we need all that cash for, you know, boring stuff like rent and food. For now, we’ll make do with screens that are a little lighter on the wallet, and today Acer has announced three new LED offerings for Joes and pros alike. First up is the T272HUL 27-inch multitouch monitor aimed at consumers, with a WQHD panel (2,560 x 1,440 resolution), 5ms response time and various inputs including old-school VGA. Arriving in late August, the T272HUL is expected to retail at around $999. Another 27-inch model, the B276HUL, drops touch support but sports the same WQHD res, a 6ms response time and a DisplayPort input among several others.
Intended more for pros, the 29-inch B296CL rocks a widescreen 2,560 x 1080 resolution, 8ms response time and the same connectivity credentials as the B276HUL. Both non-touch models are on sale now for around $599. In case you were wondering, all three displays have 178-degree viewing angles both horizontally and vertically — because if you’re not looking almost entirely at bezel, you’re doing it wrong. PR after the break.
Gallery: Acer LED monitor press shots
Filed under: Displays, HD, Acer
Via: Electronista
Motion-based PC interfaces are all the rage, thanks to Microsoft’s Kinect and the folks at Leap Motion. San Francisco-based Haptix is sure it’s got a better solution than the rest, but it needs a healthy $100,000 to get there. The company’s got a Kickstarter page going for its self-titled peripheral that can be clipped to a device or placed on a table to offer up both a 3D sensing layer in the air and a multi-touch layer on a flat surface. The dual layers give you more ways to interact with your device, and a chance to rest your palm on the table, when the whole reaching out thing proves too tiring. In the Kickstarter pitch video below, you’ll also see a Haptix picking up brushstrokes, which could certainly have some cool implications for artists.
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: Kickstarter
A muddled sense of direction isn’t the only problem affecting the new generation of Nexus 7 slates, it seems, as some users are also reporting issues with multitouch on the 1,920 x 1,200 display. The clip below the fold demonstrates the bug, and shows the touchscreen registering phantom inputs before freaking out for a couple of seconds. Over the past few weeks, chatter on the XDA Developers and Google Product forums suggests it’s fairly common, with a response from Google on the latter stating: “The Android team is aware of this issue and investigating.” We haven’t had the same troubles with a 2013 Nexus 7 in our possession (running Android 4.3 build JSS15J, FYI), and while the root of the problem is still up for discussion, let’s hope funky software is to blame — no one wants the hassle of replacing faulty hardware, especially Google, when an OTA fix will do.
Filed under: Displays, Tablets, ASUS, Google
Via: GSMArena, Android Police
Source: Google Product Forums, XDA Developers (1), (2)
It’s been well over a year since the ITC ended its initial investigation into Apple’s allegations that a spate of Motorola mobile devices infringed its patents on multi-touch display technology. Apple remained undeterred by that ruling and appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Today, Cupertino got what it wanted when the CAFC overturned parts of the ITC’s decision, and remanded it back to the ITC for further consideration.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Google
Via: FOSS Patents
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Keyboards haven’t changed much in the last, oh, few hundred years or so. You play a note by hitting and releasing it, use a pedal to sustain and change volume through the high-tech means of “bashing harder.” TouchKeys wants to give you much more control with its touch sensitive, DIY stick-on overlays that can even sense multi-touch. While similar to what we’ve seen recently with the Roli Seaboard (which has rubberized keys that let you bend notes), TouchKeys can be added to most keyboards and would let you do even more, in theory. Similar to a smartphone screen, it senses up and down or side-to-side finger movements with up to three touches, all of which can be mapped mapped to different sounds or effects. For instance, you can create a vibrato by shaking your hand side-to-side, move up and down to bend notes, use multi-touch pinch and slide to change midi mappings, or play different sounds by multi-tapping.
Most of the kits sold will be DIY, meaning they’ll come as self-installed peel-and-stick keys and sensors that fit standard-sized keyboards, starting at £330 for 25 keys. You’ll also have to open up the keyboard to tuck in the narrow controller, but the company said it hasn’t seen any models that don’t work yet. If you’re not inclined to futz around, you’ll be able to buy a limited number of pre-installed kits starting at £660 with a Novation Impulse 25 keyboard. TouchKeys is looking for a relatively modest £30,000 as its funding goal, so if you’re looking for the latest musical edge, hit the source.
Filed under: Peripherals
Via: Gizmag
Source: Kickstarter
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