Mitsubishi R&D rocks WarCraft III with new DiamondTouch table

It might not be quite as wiz bang cool as that NYU Multi-Touch interface we saw last month, but this new DiamondTouch touch panel table interface has one thing NYU's unit lacked: game. IGN has video of the DiamondTouch panel in action, and it really appears to be a glorified top-down projection system -- which it is. The image is projected onto a white table, which contains the actual magic. By touching the table you complete a circuit that sends a signal through your body with the X/Y position of your touch. This means the table can handle multiple simultaneous touches, so you and your friends can all gather around and do gaming as it was meant to be done, tabletop style. Mitsubishi's system also includes voice control, and they show it all off with a fairly impressive demo of WarCraft III.

[Thanks, Gerry]

[SLiKone @ Mar 27th 2006 5:32PM]

Where do I sign up!!

[Joe D. @ Mar 27th 2006 6:58PM]

Unless I'm not getting this, (very likely) is this just a touch screen with a projecter?

I don't see why Warcraft III would be so great with this anyway.

[Edward Tse @ Mar 27th 2006 7:11PM]

Hi, my name is Edward Tse and I am one of the authors of this work. If you'd like to view some more details videos of our work please visit http://grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/tabletop/ also, we have written papers about using speech and gesture on a tabletop for games at http://grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2006/06-MultimodalTable-AVI-Tse/06-MultimodalTable-AVI-Tse.pdf

[Edward Tse @ Mar 27th 2006 7:13PM]

Oops... the game paper is here http://grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2006/06-Multimodalgames-Tse-PerGames/06-Multimodalgames-Tse-PerGames.pdf

[evo @ Mar 27th 2006 7:28PM]

The only problem I see is that you have to sit bare-assed on a metal chair in order to compelete the circuit.

Actually, this reminds me of something: in Tokyo's Akihabara Sega arcade, they had these wild realtime games that have large tables in front of a screen. The players use special collectable playing cards with some sort of embedded chip or magnetic ID to lay out and attack with their forces. You can watch them lay out their deck of cards on the table, then as the battle begins, they start grabbing them and rubbing them on the table in fast circular and linear motions. I can't imagine trying to learn how to play without speaking Japanese, but I assume it's still pretty complicated to learn in that environment even if you do speak the language. Anyone know the name of these games?

[Phillip @ Mar 27th 2006 7:36PM]

This is pretty much the coolest thing ever. Now all you need to do is have some sorta funky z-dimension interface and you can totally wreck people in games like homeworld.

[Rick @ Mar 27th 2006 7:41PM]

Soon we'll be playing with that 3D chess set from Star Wars.

[jake @ Mar 27th 2006 11:23PM]

ha. it's like some kind of glorified board game.

[tarek @ Mar 28th 2006 12:29AM]

hmmm, diamondTouch is the name of the software my dad uses for his pizza resteraunts. (touchscreen panels)

[Mark @ Mar 28th 2006 4:06AM]

Looks like a top down version of a one of those educational smartboards!!

[Brownspank @ Mar 28th 2006 7:51AM]

Wouldn't RFID-enabled pens be a better alternative to chair-rigged circuits? That way, you don't have to make do with hard aluminum seats. :)

[JC @ Mar 28th 2006 9:24AM]

I find this cool. And is there absolutely this need to "sit bareass on an alu chair" ? Why not just attach the wire on your wrist or ankle ? The circuit would also be completed and you could just sit in comfortable sofas to play - everyone's dream ;-)

[brownopher @ Mar 28th 2006 9:35AM]

Hey Edward,
Was it not possible to go with a bottom-up projection approach? That way my hand wouldn't get in the way of the projection. It would also prevent the project from having to be mounted overhead.

I suppose it would require some alterations in the touch panel.

[Vale @ Mar 28th 2006 3:22PM]

I'm pretty sure I would wet myself if I got the chance to play Homeworld on that. I didn't think it was possible to make that game any better...

[ParadyNexus @ Apr 8th 2006 12:34PM]

Hi, my name is Edward Tse and I am one of the authors of the speech and gesture wrappers around Warcraft III and Google Earth. If you�d like to view answers to your frequently asked questions and multi user videos of Warcraft III and Google Earth please visit www.edwardtse.com

[Michael Malega @ May 8th 2007 4:09AM]

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