Multitouch surface made out of box, webcam, and glass

Want your own multitouch control surface? Have a webcam, cardboard box, and photo frame? The folks at Hacknmod MacGyvered their own with just those materials. By simply pairing a fixed camera and controlled light surface, they were able to mimic what others have paid hundreds for, albeit in a decidedly less attractive package. Peep the somewhat uncomfortably porn-like vid after the break. Oh, and seriously, Hacknmod guys, what's with the sexy techno and slow-mo insertion of the USB cable?

[Thanks Dan S]

[bob @ Apr 30th 2008 9:10AM]

wow, they should make a phone using this :s

[Abuzar @ Apr 30th 2008 1:46PM]

They already have! It's called an iPhone.

Have you been living under a rock?

[Joe @ Apr 30th 2008 3:42PM]

irony isn't one of your strong points is it :-)

[Abuzar @ Apr 30th 2008 6:04PM]

Umm... I was begin sarcastic too.

[merf1350 @ May 1st 2008 8:41AM]

I think bob meant a phone using the cardboard box method.

[Artgrafts @ Apr 30th 2008 9:12AM]

This is frikin' cool

[darkstar @ Apr 30th 2008 2:20PM]

OMFG!!!!!
im gonna try this when i get home!
my whole desk is made of glass!!!

[Phoenix @ Apr 30th 2008 9:12AM]

Sweet!

Is all that software available free on their website?

[Kerrick @ Apr 30th 2008 5:44PM]

I don't know, but a lot of the things like ripples, smoke, and the photo application were the same as that Multi Touch Tabeltop Surface demonstrated by Microsoft a few weeks ago...

[Bernhard @ Apr 30th 2008 9:19AM]

Not very practical especially if you need to light up the whole room for the camera to detect anything. I will add that anyway to my list of DIYs consisting of homemade PDA and iPod projectors and mp3 alarms for mp3 players which do not have such features.

[Alexander @ Apr 30th 2008 11:19AM]

Yeah... Not so impressive when you don't come up with the ideas, hmm?

[dj-kenpo @ Apr 30th 2008 9:21AM]

awesome job. I know I'll be building one of these at work to waste time with... fuck ya.

[Todd @ Apr 30th 2008 9:23AM]

Gadgets as pr0n - FTW!

[Technex @ Apr 30th 2008 12:01PM]

I like your style!

[spacegravity4me @ Apr 30th 2008 2:13PM]

i like your moves!

[IT-Accountant @ Apr 30th 2008 9:27AM]

Hey, it may not be useful, but it sure is imaginative. And for the price of a webcam and a piece of glass, I may try it just for kicks!

[MattyG @ Apr 30th 2008 9:34AM]

and this is Microsoft's version of innovation hmmm?

[Tis---strange @ Apr 30th 2008 9:43AM]

Well, no. You might have noticed that the people behind this are active in the open source community (easyer to understand: They know a lot about unix systems) so what has windows to do with anything?
And pretty finishing isn´t innovativ, it´s just that: pretty. If you want to be innovative with new techonology and design a product that will sell even to mactards, go ahead and do so.

[huh @ Apr 30th 2008 9:37AM]

Very nice. I can see a slightly evolved version of this being used for games, as a replacement for board games, or for other evolving purposes. Phoenix, the software is open source so it's freely available and hackable. Long live resourceful hackers!

[nikola @ Apr 30th 2008 9:39AM]

I don't understand how this is "multi-touch". Can you use this glass/webcam/box like a keyboard? or to surf the internet?

[kie @ Apr 30th 2008 9:41AM]

I guess this could be used to create a huge multi touch screen

Same kind of thing, just using a projector from the PC pointing at the surface.

Just an idea I guess

[The_Steven @ Apr 30th 2008 1:43PM]

My thoughts exactly!

[kie @ Apr 30th 2008 9:50AM]

could anybody tell me how to create an avatar etc?

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 30th 2008 11:45AM]

Don't mind the people low ranking you, their dick got caught in a car door.
Click your own name (kie) and a page with your profile info will load, it'll be to the right.

[AutoTom @ Apr 30th 2008 10:20AM]

....... and sophisticated video processing software

[PJK @ Apr 30th 2008 10:31AM]

Couldn't you combine this with a projector overhead pointing down onto the sheet of glass to create some interesting board games, or DM'ing with serious style.

[PJK @ Apr 30th 2008 10:32AM]

Sorry didn't spot the guy above with the same idea.

[kie @ Apr 30th 2008 10:51AM]

not a prob, i think i may try this! :)

[Phoenix @ Apr 30th 2008 11:10AM]

the issue there is that your hand is blocking the projector...

[PJK @ Apr 30th 2008 11:13AM]

It would only be blocking the projector while you were moving pieces etc.... Also you could always project from underneath and flip the image.

[Mike @ Apr 30th 2008 11:34AM]

This has been done many times over - but here is a company that does games w/advertising using the same concept:

http://www.reactrix.com

[kie @ Apr 30th 2008 12:16PM]

@ Phoenix

guess you could have the projector from the back, but if you wanted to mount this on a wall it would need to be a deep wall with a hole in it, which isn't practical

but if it was then you would just flip the output

[RichardR @ Apr 30th 2008 11:14AM]

BORING.

I have done this before.

in fact I have done EXACTLY the same 2 months ago with help from the NUI Group (nuigroup.com).

and if someone says anything about credit to jeff han I will scream in there face!

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 30th 2008 11:19AM]

So you are saying that you have been into this BORING activities yourself as well?

[Alexander @ Apr 30th 2008 11:34AM]

Way to write it down and back up your claims... Because you surely do not sound like some internet-douchebag who simply spouts off so-called 'knowledge' about something without any sort of proof to back them up.

Nope. So don't seem like that at all. None at all.......

[RichardR @ Apr 30th 2008 12:07PM]

I have actually been doing multitouch tables for 2 years now!

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 30th 2008 12:16PM]

Wow Richard, you hunk! You are so superior.
No, seriously. I WANT YOU.

[Seth Sandler @ Apr 30th 2008 2:00PM]

RichardR, I'm CERUPCAT on the NUIgroup forum and the creator of this video. I'm sure we know each other. If you look on the video, you will see credit to nuigroup. I've been wanting to make this video for over a year. Please support, not degrade.

[Othello @ Apr 30th 2008 2:11PM]

Oh yeah well I've been doing multitouch for 5 years! Beat that!

[Falsoman @ Apr 30th 2008 3:32PM]

I knew a guy that got arrested 6 years ago because of multitouch.

[LarryLarryLarry @ Apr 30th 2008 6:00PM]

falsoman, I am laughing so hard I can't breathe.

[jak0b @ Apr 30th 2008 11:16AM]

let me see if I get this right! if I make a DIY 1024x768 projector and this with a 1.3MP webcam i got at multitouch screen in the higher end of the scala? for what? > 200§

[Chris Aubeck @ Apr 30th 2008 11:42AM]

It wouldn't be too difficult to build your own remote note-taking advice along these lines.

[ganja smoker XL @ Apr 30th 2008 12:15PM]

This looks awesome... you guys are all up for open source.. and stuff... thats nice... but with some work and stuff... you could even make money of this... patent it and stuff.... looks really cool... Kudos...

[kie @ Apr 30th 2008 12:12PM]

@ swingin' dick hero

i got it! yay! thanks for your help

[swingin' dick hero @ Apr 30th 2008 12:17PM]

No prob!

[ma5t3rw1tt @ Apr 30th 2008 12:35PM]

Pretty neat setup. I might wanna try this. I wonder if it can be any webcam?

[Seth Sandler @ Apr 30th 2008 2:14PM]

Yes, any webcam will work. The better the cam, the better the results! =)

[Seth A @ Apr 30th 2008 1:05PM]

Could you throw in a projector and make a ghetto surface?

[Peter @ Apr 30th 2008 1:19PM]

So many comments and noone refering to this guy?

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/