The touch era

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  1

  learn@...

  10/23/09 | Report as spam

  Ed L.--STL

  I'll play futurist with you.
  Think about the need for new screen technology that allows
  you to wash your screen with soap and water.
  Think shoulder tension and resulting headaches from
  continually having to raise your arm to touch the screen.
  Think about a new color scheme or font to indicate that an
  item on the screen is "touchable".
  I like touch design but there's a lot to think about.

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  2

  DanaBlankenhorn

  10/23/09 | Report as spam

  There certainly is

  This gives me a lot to think about.
  
  One thing I was wondering about is when we get "beyond" the screen, that is, when the picture is projected into the air and we can interact with that version.
  
  Yes, life in the 21st century is certainly getting interesting. No Susan Calvin (yet) but we'll see if she turns up somewhere...

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  3

  JL54

  10/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The touch era

  Do you sit close enough to your computer screen to comfortably (and regularly) touch it?
  
  I don't.
  
  Don't see a touch interface replacing the mouse anytime soon.
  
  JL

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  4

  robert.rohr@...

  10/26/09 | Report as spam

  Mouse isn't going anywhere.

  Just as the mouse didn't do away with the keyboard, the touchscreen
  won't do away with the mouse. Having used tablet PCs for the last 5
  years and having a touchscreen PC running Windows 7 since the beta, it
  is clear that there are some tasks for which touch is quite well
  suited, and others where a mouse or keyboard do much better.
  
  Rather than projecting in the air, tap into the optic nerves and
  project these images directly into your brain, overlayed on the entire
  field of view, using some of that blurry space around the edges that
  rarely gets used. At that point, touch gestures applied to a 2D glass
  surface would probably need to be replaced with 3D gestures in space,
  obviating any further need for a soapy rag to keep your display clean.

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  5

  chessmen

  10/26/09 | Report as spam

  Much Ado About Nothing

  I don't see the big deal here. So you tap an icon with your finger instead of the mouse. So what? Personally, I prefer the mouse.

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  6

  kingtj

  10/26/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The touch era

  Chessmen, I basically agree. The hype about touch-screen support will probably sell a lot of computers - but in the end, most of those people won't get nearly as much out of it as they initially thought.
  
  Yes, it's great for special purposes like public kiosks that let you check in for airline flights, or restaurant point-of-sale terminals, or some hospital or factory shop equipment. But people have ALREADY solved those problems years ago, with special monitors or screen overlays that convert touch into mouse coordinates so they work with EXISTING operating systems and software.
  
  For any interactions with a computer more lengthy than selecting a few options on a menu, it gets tiring holding your arm up to a screen and pressing things on it. And using it as a virtual keyboard? Nobody I know would EVER prefer that kind of input to using a real keyboard. It's only tolerated (in kiosk situations), not PREFERRED by the users.
  
  The people proposing more futuristic scenarios where you work with things projected in 3D into space (or right onto the back of your eyeballs, presumably with special glasses) should realize that the touchscreen support in Windows 7 won't do much to support any of that stuff. That's going to require a BIG code re-write or addition. Maybe Windows 8?
  

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  7

  brendan@...

  10/26/09 | Report as spam

  It's about expanding options

  Touch is not going to replace the mouse, any more than the mouse replaced the keyboard. There are and will remain some types of functionality that work a lot better with a mouse than with a keyboard.
  However, touch will offer more options on controlling computers, thus making them more versatile. You can justify mounting an all in one on a wall because touch will work just fine on it.
  As far as the future, I suspect that touch will just be a small part of a wave of expanding input options. Voice Recognition is continuing it's step by step development, and might reach the point where it can casually step to the front of the stage before too long. And then there's Natal and other Gesture and visual based inputs, which could add even more options and capabilities to be exploited in future systems.
  I suspect that the real point of touch is that it's the beginning of a larger input expansion that will allow an incredible diversity of inputs, and make computers viable in far more environments than it currently is.

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  8

  DanaBlankenhorn

  10/28/09 | Report as spam

  Think About This

  Think about displaying a "virtual screen" in the air and touching that.
  
  Look at the computers taking over newsrooms now. John King's "magic screen" is now being used by the weathermen. It's a whole different type of performance than when they were standing in front of blue screens (as in the movie "Groundhog Day".)
  
  Interfaces don't change that often.

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  9

  jschumacher@...

  10/29/09 | Report as spam

  Medical applicaitons

  I am in a small regional hospital IT dept., and we are currently rethinking the way providers interface with the computer. For a busy doc, the immediacy of a touch screen on a tablet could be key - however, the EMR apps have to move with the pace of technology enhancement to make an alternative like pc touch really viable. I am very interested in alternative human input mechanisms and wonder if you have any good "amature futarist" references you could recommend on this topic. I think we should be moving towards a 'Minority Report' type data glove, myself!
  Thanks.

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  10

  rpgabriel

  11/01/09 | Report as spam

  RE: The touch era

  Have you guys seen the amazing Johnny Lee, the developer of some support software to use the Wii remote on a computer? Touch is good, but for TV, for example, It is not very helpful. What I am thinking is the possibilities to do something Spielberg's Minority Report-like.