The Power of Multi-Touch For decades we have been looking into the future, hoping, dreaming and fantasizing about what we could do with technology. Scientists, computer programmers, engineers and visionaries have all envisioned what could be possible in the future and teased us with the notions of these visions. Many movies over the past thirty to forty years have been the perfect way for these visionaries to put their dreams into a sort of reality, a way to view what they have thought up in their mind. Though, of course since they were only visions of what could be, most times they used SF (special effects) and/or CGI (computer generated imagery) to show off what they had created. In only the last 10-15 years have some of these science fiction dreams finally become a reality. This is because technology is moving so quickly these days. Every three to six months we have something new being developed that years ago would be more like five to ten years apart if not more. A great example of one of these technologies would be multi-touch. It is a very simple idea that has taken decades to go from idea to reality to something we can now use everyday. The definition of Multi-Touch is in the name it self, multi, meaning multiple and touch, meaning something that can be interacted with a simple touch on a computerized surface. There are many more things that can be done with multi-touch over a regular single touch interface. For years we have had screens and the software for single touch technology. Single touch can be very limited, one might say just as limited as a point and click mouse set up is.
For example, when using an ATM the user touches the screen to make a selection of the available options. This exact function could be done with a simple point and click interface with a mouse. Using basic single touch technology makes this process a bit faster and more convenient, but has no significant advantage. On the other hand, with multi-touch technology, there are many more tasks that can be done other then simply touching to click or select an object or field on a screen. What multi-touch devices offer is a sort of “less is more” ideology. A single device that can transform itself into whatever interface is appropriate for the specific task at hand. Multi-touch greatly expands the types of gestures that we can use in interactions. We can go beyond simple pointing, button pushing and dragging that has dominated our interaction with computers in the past. In terms of pointing devices like mice and joysticks are concerned, we do everything by manipulating just one point around the screen. There is no need for this limitation. Now the possibilities are endless. Not only can you have more than one finger in use on the screen at a time, you can have more than one person manipulating the screen at one. In February of 2006 Jeff Han’s demonstrated his new “Minority Report” style multi-touch screen in Monterey California. The crowd went wild during his presentation. Each and every gesture he made moved them; they could not believe their eyes. It was as if what they were seeing was straight out of a science fiction movie. Those dreams that we spoke about earlier were finally coming into fruition. No more science fiction; this was now reality. He spoke about how the “interface just disappears”. It is something that the end user after switching to one of these devices wouldn’t even notice. The fact is that it just works, what you need is there only when you need it. A great example of this would be the Apple iPhone or iPad. The iPhone can be viewed as the first mass-produced commercialized multi-touch device that ever went to market. Before the iPhone multi-touch was not very popular or even well known. Since 2007 when the first iPhone was introduced the iPod touch and iPad have been released. The iPad has now become the most popular tablet. All three devices use multi-touch. They are a great example of that “less is more” ideology. They are simple; they have between one and five physical buttons. Each application is custom built and the end user manipulates these devices using the multi-touch display. The same is true in Han’s prototype that was built right around the same time the iPhone was being developed. The interface as we know it today, the desktop with basic icons that you point and click with a mouse, are slowly fading out of existence. There are many applications for Han’s bigger and less portable multi-touch technology. One of which has already been developed and implemented. A company that was named uWink opened up a restaurant in West Hollywood. It was the first of its kind that I had seen. At this restaurant every table had one multi-touch monitor for every two people. This was where you found out information about the restaurant, viewed the menu, ordered your food and drinks and even played games! There was almost no need for a waiter; everything was self-service (other than the cooking of course). You could have both you and your partner sitting next to you playing games with each other or others in that same restaurant or others using the same system. It became so popular that the company decided it could grow with this multi-touch “self-service and entertainment” system so they closed the restaurant and changed the name to TapCode. TapCode now licenses and sells their product all over the world. Microsoft created something similar that has recently gone into version 2.0. They call it “Coffee Table” computing. It is a slightly larger screen the size of a coffee table. The whole top is a multi-touch screen that can be manipulated similarly to that of Han’s screen he used to demonstrate in 2006. I believe they anticipated every household would have one as their coffee table. Although that might one day become true, currently they are too expensive and better places in a commercial setting until the technology is cheaper and more widely available and accepted. For all the features that this technology brings to the table there is no doubt that one-day this will be the norm. Every office, every school, and every home will have this sort of multi-touch built either into there table tops or even into a wall. The possibilities are truly endless. We needed something to get us away from the boring and outdated point and click mouse and non-adaptable keyboard that cannot change for every application. With a multi-touch surface you touch what you want, drag something where you want it, pinch something with two of your figures almost as if it were truly right there in front of you. What if the application only needed a few keys or maybe even just a number pad? Why would you want a bulky keyboard? With a multi-touch surface you only are presented with what you need to accomplish the task at had. Why clutter your life any further. Multi-touch devices are the future of personal and high end computing. Get ready for the transition from outdated to unlimited possibilities; it has already started.