TouchSmarter: Touch Screen Gadgets

Natural User Interface Twitter update 14-28 Feb

You can find NUI’s Twitter at www.twitter.com/multitouch

Below a summary of NUI’s Twitter 14-28 Feb

Last week developed a customized multi-touch software media viewer application for a demonstration mid of March in Asia

Preparing for CEBIT Hanover Germany next week (4 and 5 March)

NUI has been showcasing on some events in Singapore the last 2 weeks for several clients

NUI partner Ideum installs MT2 Table and Mapping Exhibit

We improved the speed performance of data content loading for our PDF viewer, which is part of Snowflake

Finished multi-touch software customization project today for client in Spain

Finalized the development for integrated FLOSC inside the NextWindow plugin for Snowflake for faster Flash applications performance

Just ordered my travel tickets for CEBIT in Hanover, Germany. Will be visiting 4 and 5 of March.

Natural User Interface’s (NUI) partner Ideum installed a multitouch table and mapping exhibit.

Ideum, using NUI Suite Snowflake’s vision tracking software, installed their first multitouch table at the Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, Texas. The touch table is right in the entranceway to the museum near a large satellite photograph of Amarillo and its’ environs.

The table runs a custom mulituser, multitouch application Ideum developed with the Don Harrington Discovery Center and Vulcan Park and Museum. This multitouch mashup application uses Flickr and Yahoo! Maps. There is more on the design and software development process on the Ideum portfolio.

The video below shows some of the features found in the application.

The press came out to see the exhibit. The local newspaper and all three network news channels showed up. Below DHDC’s Executive Director, Joe Hastings got interviewed by the local press.

Ideums next installation is in two weeks in Birmingham, Alabama. Where they are going to install another table along with two multitouch enabled HP TouchSmart kiosks, powered by NUI Suite Snowflake, which is running on any NextWindow hardware platform.

Ideums original URL: http://www.ideum.com/blog/2009/02/19/multitouch-table-and-mapping-exhibit-install/

You can find NUI’s Twitter at www.twitter.com/multitouch

Below a summary of NUI’s Twitter 2-13 Feb

Snowflake now has integrated support for TIF and TIFF media file formats

NUI’s partner Ideum launched a new initiative called Multitouchblogs, sponsored by NUI, see link http://www.multitouchblogs

NUI Ideum Partnership press release online http://tinyurl.com/cmjy8m

Newer edited video of NUI Suite Snowflake: http://tinyurl.com/aw8jfw

Yesterday we demonstrated NUI Suite Snowflake and our multi-touch table at a local event in Skelleftea at the campus of the university.

NUI and Ideum hit PC Magazine (PC Mag) http://tinyurl.com/auzvj8

NUI and Ideum also hit Slashgear http://tinyurl.com/cnf6df

NUI and Ideum hit Engadget http://tinyurl.com/arnqm8

Ideum signs OEM Partnership with NUI and launches their new multi-touch table, the mt2 Table with Snowflake

Flying to Amsterdam today for ISE, one of the bigger if not the biggest electronics event in Europe http://www.iseurope.org/

Google Earth 5.0 is released, which we just tested with NUI TouchEarth and it works nicely. We will continue developing this application.

We integrated FLOSC inside Snowflake, so that FLOSC is not necessary anymore to communicate between Snowflake and Flash, which is faster.

We received approval today for another two trademarks for two future products / services

NUI again mentioned in Computer Sweden as an alternative to Microsoft Surface

NUI’s partner Ideum launched a new initiative called Multitouch Blogs, sponsored by NUI.

Multitouch Blogs is a directory and aggregator of multi-touch news sites, blogs, and podcasts.

Multitouch Blogs can be found here: www.multitouchblogs.com

US based Ideum Inc. signed an OEM Partnership with Sweden based Natural User Interface, to integrate NUI Suite Snowflake on their mt2 table, a multi-user multi-touch interactive table for museums and exhibitions.

NUI’s press release can be found here: http://www.natural-ui.com/aboutnui/news2009.html

A while ago I was invited by Adobe, to come to their office in Germany, to give a presentation on multi-touch technology and NUI Suite Snowflake.
Below you see a couple of raw shots that we quickly made just before I went there.’
The Youtube compression had a bit of an impact on the quality of the video, sorry about that.

Ideum, an US based company, focusing on delivering interactive multimedia solutions to exhibitions and museums, announced a new product, just after they signed an OEM Partnership agreement with Natural User Interface.

Visitors to the Don Harrington Discovery Center interact with the table and one another.

Ideums new product is called the mt2 Table, which is a multi-touch multi-user, high definition, 50″ diagonal robust interactive table, which consists out of high grade components and with it’s size, it beats the Microsoft Surface.

With the OEM Partnership, Ideum emphasizes on the importance of having a reliable software solution like NUI Suite Snowflake, integrated on their own hardware platform.

In addition to delivering NUI Suite Snowflake on the mt2 Table, Ideum also develops their own in Flash developed multi-touch applications that run on the vision tracking solution built in, into Snowflake.

Because of the fact that NUI has integrated FLOSC now inside Snowflake, FLOSC becomes obsolete, with the result that we cut out one important step in the communication process between the tracking software and the Flash applications, which warrants higher speed performance.

You can find more information about the mt2 Table from Ideum in the brochure, spec sheet and video, on the Ideum website.

Microsoft Surface

The Microsoft Surface technology is playing a key role in beefing up the security at the SuperBowl this year. With a slew of technology partners, a “command and Control platform” is being built owing to the Sharepoint, E-Sponder and Microsoft Surface.

One would wonder about how could such a technology aid in security related issues. The post at ArsTechnica described the role of the Surface as follows:

The tabletop computer will display a Microsoft Virtual Earth map of the area with real-time information about events, incidents, and tasks for the Tampa Incident Command staff. In this way, the security staff will be able to more easily manage the nearly a quarter of a million people in Tampa for Super Bowl-related activities. They’ll be able to zoom in and display a 3D image of the city, including detailed views of buildings and streets and real-time resource tracking.

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Computer Sweden, a leading Swedish IT magazine, today dedicated an article to NUI’s offering, of a Swedish alternative to Microsoft Surface.

The article (in Swedish), can be found here: http://computersweden.idg.se/2.2683/1.208427

Translation:

A small company in Skellefteå began last year to sell a pressure sensitive screen for table mounting.

At a speech in Hong Kong in summer 2008 Bill Gates preached about a revolution in user interfaces that he called Natural User Interface, NUI. His message was that NUI in the future will replace all existing technologies in interaction with computers.

But Swedish Natural User Interface, based in Skellefteå was established already in 2007. The company has developed a product, NUI Horizon, which is similar to Microsoft Surface and Smart Technologies Smart Table. Even in this case used multi touch technology but NUI has a screen on the entire 40 inches while the surface is only 30 inches.

Harry van der Veen, CEO of Natural User Interface Europe, believes that the main difference between Microsoft and the product is that Horizon can be integrated with many different platforms.

- Microsoft’s choice of Silverlight platform will close out many third-party developers who would rather invest in Adobe Flash, says Harry van der Veen.

He says that the company recently invested a lot in the platform NUI Suite Snowflake and the mass production of NUI Horizon will start now in the spring.

The rumors of a pre-eminent Windows 7 beta release 2 are put to rest following the official confirmation from the man In-charge of the project. Steve Sinofsky, posted a blog saying that Windows 7 was a major hit among the developers and software testers, who related their experience with the brand new OS as “Super Happy”. He clarified that the blog post had nothing to do with the shipping date and the plasible change in plans from the Redmond giant.

He precisely put up a compendium of the litany of terms used just to inhibit any peradventures:

• Pre-Beta – This release at the PDC introduced the developer community to Windows 7 and represents the platform complete release and disclosure of the features.
• Beta – This release provided a couple of million folks the opportunity to use feature complete Windows 7 while also providing the telemetry and feedback necessary for us to validate the quality, reliability, compatibility, and experience of Windows 7. As we said, we are working with our partners across the ecosystem to make sure that testing and validation and development of Windows 7-based products begins to enter final phases as we move through the Beta.
• Release Candidate (RC) – This release will be Windows 7 as we intend to ship it. We will continue to listen to feedback and telemetry with the focus on addressing only the most critical issues that arise. We will be very clear in communicating any changes that have a visible impact on the product. This release allows the whole ecosystem to reach a known state together and make sure that we are all ready together for the Release to Manufacturing. Once we get to RC, the whole ecosystem is in “dress rehearsal” mode for the next steps.
• Release to Manufacturing (RTM) – This release is the final Windows 7 as we intend to make available to PC makers and for retail and volume license products.
• General Availability (GA) – This is a business milestone and represents when you can buy Windows 7 pre-installed on PCs or as full packaged product.

What is to be seen is that if they can really keep up their word this time around. The release of this neophytic version was not hyped following the response they’ve garnered with the Vista. Now, Microsoft is seeing Windows 7 as their saviour as they wish to dust off their bruises and build up their reputation once again. This would be crucial, with Bill Gates no more in there to save them they will have to bank hopes on 7, and untill now it hasn’t let them down.

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