Multi-touch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Multi-touch is a human-computer interaction technique and the hardware devices that implement it. Multi-touch consists of a touch screen or touch tablet (touchpad) that recognizes multiple simultaneous touch points and software to interpret simultaneous touches. This frequently includes the position and pressure or degree of each touch point independently, which allows gestures and interaction with multiple fingers or hands (similar to chording) and can provide rich interaction (including direct manipulation) through intuitive gestures. Depending largely on their size, some multi-touch devices support more than one user on the same device simultaneously. One salient aspect of this technique is that it makes easy to zoom in or out in a Zooming User Interface with two fingers, thereby providing a more direct mapping than with a single-point device like a mouse[1] or stylus.[2]
Multi-touch has a history beginning in 1982, with pioneering work being done at the University of Toronto (multi-touch tablets) and Bell Labs (multi-touch screens). Later, the University of Delaware developed a sophisticated two-handed typing and gesture recognition system in the late 1990s.[3][4] This system was the basis for the iGesture mouse pads and TouchStream keyboards commercialized by FingerWorks in 2001.[5] The TouchStream keyboard was notable for its unique ergonomics: point and drag were done with two or more fingers right over the (printed) keys, completely eliminating reach between keyboard and pointing device, while allowing "zero-force" typing on the smooth surface at speeds of 60wpm.[6][7] Despite the learning curve for surface typing, FingerWorks attracted an enthusiastic customer base[8] before its founders joined Apple in 2005.[9]
The first commercially available display using multi-touch technology was the Lemur Input Device, a professional multi-media controller from the French company JazzMutant,[10] launched in 2005. In July 2007, Apple made a move to register the word multi-touch as a trademark with the iPhone.[11]
Not all 'multi-touch' implementations can track five or ten simultaneous finger touches. Some are limited to tracking two fingers unambiguously. Other devices feature multi-touch with more diverse finger gestures, such as JazzMutant Lemur and Dexter, Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook Pro (Penryn) and MacBook Air,[12] and Microsoft's Surface technology.
