3M Launches 20-Finger Multi-Touch Display

[CptTripps]

I could see using eight fingers by my lonesome when moving volume sliders in a DAW. That sounds fantastic to me for doing automation vs. the old "one at a time 8 times over".

Would all depend how accurate it is but; if you can draw on it... I assume it would be accurate enough.

[citation][nom]hellwig[/nom]And touch points? You mean my fingers are simply activating various points on a detection grid (like buttons or switches)? I suppose the detection had to be reduced to a discrete number at some point, but only 3358 touch points? That's 73x46 points. That's what, 3 every 2 centimeters or something? That's not a very precise surface. Maybe I'm just confused.[/citation]

You are assuming that the screen cannot tell where you are between touch points.

 

[Tmanishere]

This would be totally awesome for a virtual synthesizer, sampler, or soundboard! I want one! But alas, it is too expensive to be practical for now. It might also be tough to find a software that supports it?

 

[Pyroflea]

I'd like to see more technology like this come out. Touch screens have been around forever, but a nice touchscreen monitor is still unaffordable for the average consumer. I wouldn't mind having one personally.

 

[kelemvor4]

[citation][nom]pharge[/nom]This tech should be good for MS surface concept. I still remember seeing the concept of playing D&D on "surface" system. Yes... 20+ multitouch seems a little bite useless on up-right monitors... but... it can be very useful when the monitor is bigger and lying down as a table surface..[/citation]
+1 Exactly what I was thinking of. This would also be great if you put 6 or 8 together with the ATI eyefinity to make a large tabletop "display" for conference rooms.

 

[micky_lund]

[citation][nom]tayb[/nom]Think bigger than 22".[/citation]
yeah. how can u possibly get 20+ fingers on there, with precision accuracy, if its so small?

 

[ZEPd3Z]

with that many fingerprints you don't have to worry about them, as they would cover most of the screen.... you're gonna have to put fingerprints on the clean areas to make the surface even.

 

[eccentric909]

[citation][nom]tmanishere[/nom]This would be totally awesome for a virtual synthesizer, sampler, or soundboard! I want one! But alas, it is too expensive to be practical for now. It might also be tough to find a software that supports it?[/citation]

That is what I was thinking, imagine how many different synths and drum machines you could simulate. Hell, you could even simulate turntables with two of them.

 

[WyomingKnott]

21? That would be for pr0n, of course.

 

[justchuck69]

[citation][nom]jerreece[/nom]LOL Twenty fingers on a 22" display? Four full hands, trying to make different gestures? Are we talking about using this for a pre-school? LOLNow, put this on a 60" display, and hang it up in a board room with multiple windows open so folks can work on different things at once.... maybe I can see it. But even still, then you'd have at least two people standing in front of the display to manipulate it...[/citation]

yes a very good point .... with two pairs of hands ( 4 hands = 20 fingers )on the screen there wont be any area left to look at lol

even 10 multi touch might be overkill for anything like a 20 or 22 inch lcd

yes 30 to 60 inch lcd might would be good for 10 or more multi touch points and a 22 inch lcd for over 1500 bucks might be a little high for home users but i guess a couple of big companies might buy 1 or 2 of these !!

 

[Guest]

Now 10 fingers, 10 toes, why can't it have enough control to capture even my 21st finger?

 

[3mDave]

I could see using eight fingers by my lonesome when moving volume sliders in a DAW. That sounds fantastic to me for doing automation vs. the old "one at a time 8 times over".

Would all depend how accurate it is but; if you can draw on it... I assume it would be accurate enough.



You are assuming that the screen cannot tell where you are between touch points.

Correct, the 73x46 is the individual sensing locations. Interpolation between multiple locations yields 16K x 16K resolution or greater.

 

[3mDave]

playing a game with two people?

Lots of applications are adopting multitouch technology. CAD/PLM, Sound mixing, video editing, animation, retail tables, home automation.

The need for 20 plus is because the orientation of multitouch displays is not traditional. Often it is at 20 degrees or less to the user which creates the need for the palm effet (ie your hand, arm, etc resting on the screen). A palm can consume 4-6 touch points on a screen, that is why the additional head room above the number of finger. Some applications require the dexterity of hand resting (think about writing your name) for precise control.

Most ask, why 3M does not filter out the palm effect. And the answer is there is useful information in that data. It may be possible to determine the user orientation with respect to the screen, or if the user is utilizing the left hand or right hand, or if the user is simply resting on the screen. These can be used by the application developers to enhance the user experience and create unique lasting user impressions.

 

[3mDave]

This would be totally awesome for a virtual synthesizer, sampler, or soundboard! I want one! But alas, it is too expensive to be practical for now. It might also be tough to find a software that supports it?

Check out RML labs. They provided us with a multitouch enabled version of their software. It's pre release, but it is powerful concept of moving to multitouch.

We'll have it at infocomm

 

[justchuck69]

virtual synthesizer, sampler, or soundboard!

i can see where that might be good but still a bigger and cheaper screen will be needed for more people to use it

in a game i don't see 20 multi touch points as being very good unless the screen was at least twice the size of this one ( say about 28 to 32 inches)

but the future looks bright for this tech

 

[justchuck69]

and talk about thread reserection