If you've been watching CNN's election coverage lately (and we think you have), then you've probably seen anchor John King
tripping the light fantastic on the channel's
Magic Wall touchscreen. Apparently, Microsoft has come up with its own version of the board -- essentially a
Surface flipped on its side and mounted. The device, known as the TouchWall, joins a handful of finger-friendly prototypes that Microsoft Research is working on (including a spherical unit we assume will be used strictly for world domination campaigns). The 4-foot-by-6-foot "wall" uses inexpensive infrared sensors and a rear-mounted camera -- which can be added to a variety of surfaces -- in order to create the hands-on experience. The company appears to be targeting this as a low cost "intelligent whiteboard" solution, so hopefully they'll be turning up in schools, small businesses, and the Engadget offices soon. Check the video after the break to see it all in action.
[Via
CNET]
posted May 15th 2008 11:13AM
Because "intelligent whiteboard" doesn't sound anything at all like a SMART Board interactive whiteboard!
you have not lived till you have played peggle on a SMART board
I've used a SMART board in the past, though it was front projected. I also don't think it is multitouch either.
Or Warcraft 3. For, ummm, system testing purposes. But yeah, downsides to the SMART are front projection and no multi-touch.
The few times I've got to use a smartboard in school, I always thought it required quite a bit of pressure to press, so whenever I had to drag something I had to practically gouge the damned thing just so it would register a touch constantly.
Also people getting in the way of the frontal projection meaning loads of shadows.
At my school, my technology teacher uses a SMART board and this looks WAY cooler.
the guy specifies in the video that it's rear projected... and it IS multi-touch... he uses two hands to zoom in and out...
The top of the range Smart boards are in every class in our school. half the teachers have no idea how to use them, most using real pen on them.. and the ones who do just use it as a projector. Dumb.
interactive porn, yeah baby...
Touching will never be the same again.
Minority Report suddenly looks dated
Except in Minority Report, one didn't have to touch anything ... you simply gestured in mid-air.
I think it's possibly to assume you mistaking the movie Minority Report with another movie. After all it was the film where you can see crimes in the future to stop them before they happen with the help of air gestures in front of a glass, transparent wall-display.
This wall simply looks like a Jeff Han wall, and he was doing this stuff 4 years ago.
What separates sometime like the iPhone from this and from what Jeff Han is doing is the way the multi-touch UI is implemented and the technology that is used. Hence you don't need the iPhone to be 1 foot thick to make room for an internal rear-projector. i.e. much smaller form-factor, much more sensitive and responsive display, much less costly, with a much longer battery life for battery powered units.
What Microsoft is doing here is very like what Jeff Han is doing.
surface but on a wall instead of a huge table?
INNOVATION!!!!
STFU biatch!
finally, a usable version. Tables aren't ergonomic.
I want one, we have seen this in quite a number of TV shows.
so how do I get one and what will it cost.
Actually, it's not as expensive as you might think. The most expensive part will be the projector itself most likely, or maybe the computer, but the actual touchy screeny part is pretty simple.
There was a really good community that worked on this stuff, but I can't remember their site. I remember finding it after seeing this Instructable, so it can probably help you, just turn it sideways so it's on the wall :P
http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
Microsoft had this at least a year ago in their own visitor's center. What the hell?
I believe the one you are talking in the visitor center wasn't actuallytouch sensitive, but rather controlled by in-air hand motions.
I was going to say, give me a smaller soho version with bluetooth keyboard and light pen for £400 and I'll sign up.
However, the rear projector and kit behind the screen isn't going to fit flush against any walls.
Though it also needs a tv in there showing 24 hr news and soccer ... while I'm busy doing 'something business like' on it ... Just haven't quite figured out what yet.
Sorry guys, I'll wait for a more practical version i.e. v3.0 (like 1988 and Windows 3.0 all over again) :-)!
Only took 3 comments before the minority report one-liner. Isn't that movie too old to keep referencing? And hasn't it been referenced too many times?
No.
Found the site, if you're serious about building one of these, you NEED to check this site our:
http://www.nuigroup.com/
The next few years are going to be full of surprises. Having seen a bunch of these demo videos online, and knowing people who are making their own DIY multi-touch screens at home, the playing field seems to be wide open for innovative touch computing. When mega-corporations like Microsoft are demoing the same kinds of technology basically being created by individual researchers, graduate students, and sometimes even hobbyists, sea change is possible, i.e. college dropouts dreaming up new visual ways to control a computer.
Who is the company that makes the "magik wall" that CNN uses?
I was wondering the same thing.
I am thinking its MS.
Perceptive Pixel http://www.perceptivepixel.com
The company is called Perceptive Pixel. I'm sure they could use some press now that MS is trying to drink their milkshake.
it looks janky.
like it's really timid about the input, very cautiously doing the commands and ignoring the subtle movements... which might be a good thing, but it makes it looks kind of unresponsive.
or maybe it's that, like the HTC Diamond (Touchflow 3D), it's more gesture-based than "physics-based" which would indeed make it feel a little janky (though probably not too awkward once you get used to it.)
stop saying Janky
I'll jank you....
This makes a million times more sense than the surface. I've said all along that the tech in the Surface is impressive, but it would only be used in one of its intended venues at a time. If you're using it at a cell phone store to compare cell phones, it because a very expensive way to do that. If you're using it in a restaurant to split a bill, it becomes an unreasonably expensive way to do that. A whiteboard that can be used in a variety of businesses makes a lot more sense.
Yes, but the point a lot of stories on this are missing is that Surface is meant to do a lot more than this. This won't recognize different objects and treat them differently, or let you remotely manage/interact with files and applications on other devices. It wouldn't let you wirelessly make payments even if you did split the bill on it. This is solely a touch interface that can be used on any surface. They're different products with different uses, and I think a lot of coverage has been missing that point.
They'll have a hard time trying to fit that into your pocket. What a laugh comparing this MS crap-touch to the 3D projected display that was used in Minority Report.
I am a mac only user, a real Apple fanboy at times but your comments craptalking MS and any other 'multitouch' product is just getting old. Are you for real?
Why do I keep thinking of Dr Phil after you comment...
I've said it before and I will say it again Steffen Jobs, you are a mouth breathing retard!!!
this sounds a lot like that whiteboard that dude made with the wii mote
this looks like a giant iPhone to me :-)
Great idea, especially since schools have all that extra cash to pick a few up.
Will take long before public can 'touch' it...
Where is the 'FIVE GODDAMN PROJECTORS!!!" comment?
This is where Microsoft fails. They need a better representative, not that guy who's talking to the wall. :P
Looks like it didn't take long for Microsoft to copy apple's technology and make a giant iphone.
since when did apple invent the touchscreen or gesture recognition?
i don't like weatherbox, but this looks sweet.
dude last i checked apple doesnt use a projector for 50" multitouch... microsoft does! so shudup ryan
on a better note
does this mean that CSI Miami style displays and interfaces are going to start popping up? if so HELL YES!
Microsoft has had this in the 'Microsoft museum' for years.
This is an example of touchscreen the OS X way, not by some half-baked MS kludge (We won't be doing document editing for a while yet):
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1360
MS had better start getting their copiers ready to work overtime.
Nice try MS, but don't take it too hard. You were never known for innovation, anyway.
That 'innovative' software you're showing off there is coded on Windows. See there http://nuiman.com/log/view/current_workflow_01/ are you even sure this software runs on a mac?
and it's running on vista (lolz), the ultimate stfu to mac fanboy
I can see this being a great tool in the courtroom.
O Lord, "intelligent whiteboards". My school bought a bunch of those with USAID money (ie your tax dollars). What a boondoggle. You draw on what looks like a whiteboard with something that looks like a dry-erase pen. The board detects the fake pen, shoots a signal back to a laptop cleverly hidden inside the professor's desk. The laptop fires a signal to an overhead projector which then shoots an image onto the fake whiteboard. Ten seconds after you draw a line, it appears on the screens. Needless to say, most people use real dry erase pens on the whiteboards, bypassing the 5,000 dollar system for efficiency and sanity.
Umm... what about the wii whiteboard?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ
Yay, the viral outbreak of the century just got another tool in its belt
I think it would be really cool if all subway stations had a touchwall map, also perhaps putting tags on subway tickets to interact with the wall
Microsoft might just get largest "Bluescreen of Death" award yet!
As had already been mentioned, this is old News. Jeff Han has been doing it longer and better. His company...
http://www.perceptivepixel.com/
I've actually used one of his multi-touch wall displays and it is absolutely incredible. Manipulating a 3D model in real time using multi-touch is something to be experienced.
Microsoft has been after this for a long time.
But they have almost no idea what to do with it. The single thought behind this whole demonstration is the idea that maybe it would be better to lay out all your stuff on a big flat space instead of hiding it directories like we do now. Instead of navigating a tree to find your files, you would use multitouch to move in and out of a gigantic tabletop full of your files.
I don't think so.
This is what's so interesting about Jeff Han's work. His guys are figuring out what to do with this technology. They are re-thinking how we should be interacting with computers.
YAWN.
But seriously - this would be cool to use, but it's hardly "innovative.' They must spend a lot of time playing solitaire at MS research.
Why would anyone want a computer that forces them to stand when using it?