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Building Interactive Multi-touch Surfaces

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Tabletops - Horizontal Interactive Displays

Part of the book series: Human-Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

Multi-touch interaction with computationally enhanced surfaces has received considerable attention in recent years. Hardware implementations of multi-touch interaction such as Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR) and Diffuse Illumination (DI) have allowed for the low cost development of surfaces. Although many of these technologies and associated applications have been presented in academic settings, the practicalities of building a high quality multi-touch enabled surface, both in terms of the software and hardware required, are not widely known. We draw upon our extensive experience as developers of multi-touch technology to provide practical advice in relation to building, and deploying applications upon, multi-touch surfaces. This includes technical details of the construction of optical multi-touch surfaces, including: infrared illumination, silicone compliant surfaces, projection screens, cameras, filters, and projectors, and an overview of existing software libraries for tracking.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    1 http://www.alluminium-profile.co.uk

  2. 2.

     http://www.libavg.de/

  3. 3.

     http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/OpenSoundControl/

  4. 4.

     http://natural-ui.com/solutions/software.html

  5. 5.

     http://nuicode.com/projects/wiki-book

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Florian Daiber, Otmar Hilliges, Markus Löchtefeld, Laurence Muller, Tim Roth, Daivd Smith, Urich von Zadow, David Hollmann and Antonio Krüger for their help with the Multi-touch Bootcamp 2008 in Amsterdam in conjunction with IEEE Tabletops and for their comments and help (e.g. graphics and feedback) on this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), D-66123, Saarbruecken, Germany

    Jonathan Hook, Tom Bartindale & Patrick Oliver

  2. Culture Lab, Newcastle University, Grand Assembly Rooms, Kings Walk, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Dominik Schmidt

  3. Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4WA, UK

    Florian Echtler

  4. Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany

    Nima Motamedi

  5. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Peter Brandl

  6. Media Interaction Lab, Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences, 4600, Wels, Austria

    Ulrich von Zadow

Authors
  1. Johannes Schöning
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  2. Jonathan Hook
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  3. Tom Bartindale
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  4. Dominik Schmidt
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  5. Patrick Oliver
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  6. Florian Echtler
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  7. Nima Motamedi
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  8. Peter Brandl
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  9. Ulrich von Zadow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johannes Schöning .

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  1. Mosman St. 2/6A, Mosman, 2088, Australia

    Christian Müller-Tomfelde

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Schöning, J. et al. (2010). Building Interactive Multi-touch Surfaces. In: Müller-Tomfelde, C. (eds) Tabletops - Horizontal Interactive Displays. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-113-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-113-4_2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84996-112-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84996-113-4

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