Motorola Invests in Sensitive Object's Multi-Touch Technology

    Today, I found this new type of multi-touch. The next generation of multi-touch could be based not on electrical resistance or disturbance, but on sound waves instead. I am not sure exactly how it works, but I am going to tell you what I understand about this technology. The technology is based on time reversal acoustics, which I will explain in my next post. So here is the news I found, Motorola invested in a multi-touch company called Sensitive Object which uses a different technique to locate a touch on a surface than other devices like the iPhone. Like multi-touch technology its self, time reversal acoustic research isn't new stuff. 

    Motorola will supposedly use this technology in some their next phones. I don't think Motorola is doing so well right now; either (I could be wrong), so this could be a very good thing for them. I have decided not to try to explain how time reversal acoustics works, because I don't want to tell you false information. In my next post I am going to give you the facts only in the simplest way possible, because any other way would be crazy. In the mean time you can read what I believe time reversal acoustics to be. By the way if you want to check out some cool stuff, it looks like HTC is coming out with some cool multi-touch phones.

Motorola Invests in Sensitive Object

Notes:

source:  InformationWeek

• The next generation of multi-touch could be based not on electrical resistance or disturbance, but on sound waves.
• So, how does it work?
• I am not exactly sure
• Basically, when a finger touches a surface it creates a sound. Multiple microphones would pick up the sound and locate the touch with time reversal acoustics
• How would sound work, wouldn't it be disrupted by any other sounds like voices or traffic?
• I am assuming there would be some interference, but from my understanding the microphones would be picking up sound that is located within the surface touched
• Whoa, you said something about reversed acoustics??? What is that?
• I have no idea, but my guess is it has to do with something like... actually, I really don't have any idea
• I will do some research on time reversal acoustics for my next post
• So, who is using this technology?
• Like I said, I am not sure about all this
• I believe this tech is being used in the medical field right now
• Motorola has invested in the company Sensitive Object
• Sensitive Object 
• Creates products that "will provide people with a bridge between the abstract digital technology and their familiar surroundings."
• What will Motorola do with this?
• they will supposedly use it to design some of their new phones with intuitive multi-touch interfaces

Second Peer Response

Hey Jake!

Before this blog I didn't even know about "Multi Touch Technology", I just thought it was called 'Touch Screen'. Considering this I did not know completely what to expect upon entering into your blog but regardless found your blog quite entertaining to read.

Your notes were quite thorough. I also noticed how well they were laid out and this was found throughout your entire blog. Even if at the beginning of the notes I was slightly confused, most to all of my questions were soon answered and I was on the edge of my seat to see what new technology is coming out in Multi-Touch.

For your response, you summarized which I personally think is important. However, your entire response was a summary of the notes (I did this as well). You (I) need to remember that although this is the easy way out it is not exactly what a "response" is. Taking this into consideration I would just project more of your feelings into the responses and then cut down a little on the summary. Then your responses will be even richer and you will find yourself in a stronger position.

Other then the slight change of your responses, I would change one other thing. Many of your blogs are about almost the same thing, or at least in the same field. Possibly try to expand your audience by finding multi touch in different areas life. Things such as gaming and book reading (kindle?) will strengthen your blog substantially.

Your colors and fonts were easy to read and consistent. One thing they may help with organization it to label your notes/responses something such as: title- Response/notes. By doing this the reader will be more prepared for what they are about to read.

Just so you know, all I have said here is quite nitpicky and you are doing a great job. Keep up the great work!

2nd Blog Response

Sorry this is so late—I've had problems getting on this site

Your notes are, to say the least, very complete. Although they are easy to follow and detailed, some of it seems unnecessary. Try to focus your notes on the main theme of the post and skip some of the extreme details. The sources you used for your notes were very interesting and informative.
As I said, your posts are very complete and detailed, but try to keep the responses solely for your reflection and thoughts on the issue. You included many of the same facts in your notes in the response. Keeping the too separate will make the post more accessible to the reader and make your point stronger.
Each of your posts function well on there own, but sometimes they lack a connection between them. Make sure you keep an identifiable thought process moving throughout the blog so the reader stays interested. A background post explaining the roots of Multi-Touch technology would help give a broader understanding of the topic.
All of your citation is complete, and your links function properly. The blog is organized well and looks good. Great job so far.

2nd Peer Response

I found your topic very interesting! I was actually pretty excited to read about it. Owning an iPod touch myself, I've wondered how they managed to develop its multi-touch screen. But after reading this I've learned a lot about how and why they did it. Also I found it interesting to read about this and compare it with my own blog, the Apple Company. One thing I really liked was that you included a link to that interactive website developed by SilverPAC. I actually tried to use it, but my computer didn't support it.

Your notes are very detailed and give the reader good information about the article you've chosen. I love the way your notes are set up; they really helped me organize my thoughts as I read them. The pictures that you included were also very interesting and fun to look at. They helped me understand the information a little better. Your responses were also very thorough and showed how you felt about the article you read.

One thing that I would suggest is that maybe you could research specific topics that appeal to a broader audience. For instance maybe find an article about the development of multi-touch technology in video games. I think a lot more readers would be interested in this, since video games are an everyday thing for a lot of people. It would also be really cool if you included a video of some sort if you came across one.

As for the organization of your blog, it is extremely helpful. The

colors are easy to read and the overall visual style is appealing.

However, only 4 1/2 of your blogs are complete, when there should

be 5.

POST COMING SOON

Are We Loosing Sight of Multi-Touch?

The newest competitor of the iPhone, Motorola's Droid, is missing multi-touch?

• The Droid from Motorola
• Capacitive touch screen
• Android 2.0
• Android 2.0
• Android 2.0 does support multi-touch
• However, the functionality isn't used in this device
• No Multi-touch
  
• The lack of multi-touch on the Droid is not right
• With all the new devices coming out with multi-touch; having a touch screen, but not multi-touch is outrageous
• What does this mean for the future of multi-touch devices?
• Hopefully not much
• We just have to hope that the next droid has multi-touch and that it won't be something that we see continue
  

World's First Multi-touch Interactive Website

  

    On November 3, 2009 SilverPAC, a "leading provider of advanced home digital entertainment solutions", announced the world's first multi-touch interactive website. The website (located here) is powered by Microsoft's Silverlight along with the multi-touch capabilities of Windows 7. In a sense it is a rather simple idea, yet nobody had done it before SilverPAC. This is because it actually hasn't been possible because of the lack of multi-input support in operating systems. Mac's OS X may support multi-touch, but it doesn't support multi-input. The iPhone OS obviously supports multi-input, but restrictions placed by Apple keeps Silverlight from reaching the iPhone and iPod touch.

    Silverlight is a software development kit that, "extends and amplifies your existing development skills, empowering you to build new types of applications for the Web regardless of target platform or browser." (A software development kit is a set of development tools that enable a software engineer to create applications for some sort of platform or framework, for those of us that don't already know this.) Silverlight is a web development platform from Microsoft that enables features like animation, audio playback, and vector graphics in a web browser on almost all operating systems. SilverPAC used Silverlight's multi-touch support as the platform to run the website on. And because Silverlight is integrated into Windows 7 operating system the website is able to receive input from the user's multi-touch enabled computer.

    Even if none of that last paragraph made any sense to you, the important thing is that SilverPAC developed the world's first multi-touch interactive website. In the supposed future where we interact with computers through multi-touch technologies, this website brings us that much closer to this future. Unfortunately; unless you have a touchscreen on your computer, you won't be able to use this technology. Even with a multi-touch trackpad or a multi-touch Magic Mouse, you are still limited to clicking and dragging your mouse which is, theoretically, only one finger. Sadly, it may be a year before multi-touch screens are cheaper and more widespread.

SilverPAC Notes

World's First Multi-touch Interactive Website

• What it is:
• A website powered by Microsoft's Silverlight
• Along with the built in multi-touch capabilities in Windows 7
• A really simple concept, but the first in the world
• How it works:
• Silverlight's multi-touch capability in conjunction with built-in multi-touch support in Windows 7
• With the addition of multi-touch hardware on your computer
• What is Silverlight?
• Silverlight is a software developer's kit that, "extends and amplifies your existing development skills, empowering you to build new types of applications for the Web regardless of target platform or browser."
• A software developer's kit (SDK) is a set of development tools that enable a software engineer to create applications for some sort of platform or framework.
• It is a web development platform from Microsoft that enables features like animation, audio playback, vector graphics, in a web browser on almost all operating systems
• Requirements:
• You must have the Windows 7 operating system
• Multi-touch hardware
• Why hasn't this been done before?
• There hasn't been an operating system that could handle more than one point of interaction
• What website has multi-touch interaction?
• SilverPAC
• http://www.silverpac.com/multitouch/ 
• What does this all mean?
• In the supposed future we will be interacting with computers through multi-touch
• This website shows us just how close we are to that future
• Unfortunately; unless you have a touchscreen on your computer, you won't be able to use this technology. Even with a multi-touch trackpad or a multi-touch Magic Mouse, you are still limited to clicking and dragging your mouse which is, theoretically, only one finger.

World's First Multi-Touch Mouse by Apple

     On October 24, 2009 Apple released a new mouse to accompany the new updates to the iMac. The new mouse is called the Magic Mouse because that is exactly what it is. The Magic Mouse is the world's first multi-touch mouse. The reason the Magic Mouse is so special also because the incorporation of multi-touch technology hasn't been thought of yet meaning this product could spark a whole revolution of multi-touch mice like the iPhone did; however, I highly doubt it.
 

    The Magic Mouse is the world's first multi-touch mouse ever. The new mouse is simply the combination of the traditional mouse and multi-touch technology. Apple took their old Mighty Mouse and made it much sleeker and removed the rubber scrolling ball before overlaying a touch sensitive layer over the entire top of it. Ironically this hybrid changes the whole idea of multi-touch technology. Multi-touch is thought, by most people, to be a new way to interact with a computer using multiple inputs at the same time to manipulate the virtual elements of a computer program. The Magic Mouse; however, still uses the simple low-tech, single point of interaction mouse, but it uses the multi-touch technology instead to control the computer's functions.
 

    This new idea on ways to used multi-touch technology can lead to a whole different way for people to interact with computers. Maybe instead of computers using mice, they all have multi-touch sensitive screens. Or instead keyboards and mice could be projected onto any nearby flat surface. These two ideas could all be used together to great a sleek interface where you are sitting at your desk with a large piece of flat smooth glass. Projected on top of the glass could be your interface that was entirely multi-touch sensitive. This whole thing could be entirely wire-free; power could be wireless, and so could the data transfer. You might have a any type of file (music, picture, document, video) on this computer and have it wirelessly sync with your handheld device in an instant all with a simple tap and drag motion with your finger. Multi-touch will undoubtably be part of our future most likely in the way we interact with our computers.

Apple released the world's first multi-touch mouse

Outline

• World's first multi-touch mouse
• How this will affect our future
• What will come next?

Notes

• What just happened???
• On October 24, 2009
• Apple released world's first multi-touch mouse
• A whole new use for multi-touch technology
• What is it?
• The Magic Mouse is the world's first multi-touch mouse
• It is a hybrid between the old fashioned mouse and multi-touch technology
• The funny thing is:  multi-touch is look at as an alternative way to interact with a computer
• multi-touch is most often used to allow people to interact with multiple points simultaneously 
• this multi-touch just gives you a new way to control the computer
• not so much interact with it
• it is the same with the all the MacBooks
• A traditional mouse with a multi-touch sensitive layer overlayed on the entire top
• How will this affect our future
• The Magic Mouse is a new take on the uses for multi-touch technology
• Very original
• Inspiring
• It is possible that in a couple years from now we will only be using multi-touch mice
• What else could be next?
• Maybe it wont be multi-touch mice
• instead all computers could have a multi-touch sensitive screen
• it could be keyboards projected on a flat surface that will respond to a touch
• possibly we will have a large piece of clear glass that had a interface that had multiple windows open that could be moved around by your finger with a swipe or any such gesture. the entire display could be a projection that will be entirely multi-touch. this interface wouldn't have any wires because instead wireless power might be powerful enough do take their place, instead. any documents or files (pictures, video, music) could be wirelessly synced to any handheld device in seconds all with a drag and drop.

The History of Multi-Touch Technology

Multi-touch technology is just recently appearing in more and more of the every-day products we use. However, multi-touch technology isn't all that new. In fact, it has been around since 1982, roughly three decades ago. Starting with things as simple as the everyday keyboard. This technology is being used more and more, but few people know why and how it works; or just simply, what multi-touch technology is.


Multi-touch technology is able to sense multiple inputs from more than one finger (or hand) at a time. This can be either physical interaction or graphical. The keyboard is a very simple form of physical multi-touch, when the user is typing a capital letter they must hold the "shift" key and the letter at the same time. Multi-touch can also be graphical too, a famous use of graphical multi-touch interaction is the iPhone. The iPhone, however, uses only one of three basic was a computer detects a touch.


Multi-touch technologies can detect a persons finger on a screen by one of three basic methods; pressure applied to the screen, differences in an electrical current, or by sensing fluctuations in electricity. Pressure can be used to find the location of a touch with two metallic layers separated by spacers located above the screen. Where a finger (or any other instrument) applies pressure the layers will touch and the coordinates of the touch are then calculated by a processor. Touches can also be located using the decreases in current. A capacitive layer on top of the screen looses some of the electricity flowing through it when it is touched by a finger. This decrease is sensed by circuits in the corners of the screen and used to locate the coordinates of the touch. The third method of finding the location of a touch is by using electric current. A touch on the screen where reflectors are also located disturb an electrical current reflected across the screen of the device. Either of these three methods can be used to find the location of a touch, or touches, on a screen.


Why is it only now that multi-touch technology is being used if it has been around for so long? Multi-touch technology has always been envisioned as the futuristic way to interact with computers, so it all it needed was some body to be the first penguin to jump into the water. Learning about how multi-touch technologies started slow then suddenly bloomed makes me wonder what might be the next big thing to bloom? It also reminds me of the increasing efficiency and usage of wireless power. No more power cords!?! I want to explore the newest, most imaginative and creative uses for multi-touch technology in my next post. Maybe I will have to come up with some of my own creative new uses for multi-touch technology.

The History of Multi-Touch Technology

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/iphone.htm

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question716.htm

• What is multi-touch?
• multi-touch can be both physical and graphical
• For example a keyboard uses physical multi-touch while typing a capital letter
• multi-touch technology senses input from more than one finger at a time
• multi-touch dates back to 1982
• How it works
• multi-touch technology can sense input by three basic methods
• pressure sensitive
• differences in an electrical field
• surface acoustic wave
• pressure sensitive
• two metallic layers separated by spacers located above the screen touch where a finger (or any other instrument) applies pressure
• the coordinates of the touch are calculated by a processor which then sends the information to a program
• electrical disturbances
• a capacitive layer is placed on the display
• a finger touches the screen the some of the electricity is transmitted to the user causing a decrease in the current
• the decrease is sensed by circuits in the corners of the screen
• the processor translates this raw data into a touch
• disturbances in light 
• reflectors placed on the screen reflect electrical current
• a touch disturbs this current with is located by the processor
• Why now?
• multi-touch technology has been thought of as a futuristic way to interact with computers for decades
• somebody had to be first!

Your iPhone Is Now Your Car Keys

Apple's iPhone is famous for its multi-touch screen. It was one of the first of its kind; the mother of a whole generation of cell phones with touch screens. One of the greatest features of the iPhone are the applications that it can run. Anybody can develop an iPhone application that can be sold for a small price or free with a Apple computer and the free iPhone SDK. Viper, a leader in security and remote start technology, has come up with a remote start system that is controlled by an iPhone.


With the SmartStart system one can control their car with the iPhone. An iPhone running Viper's SmartStart application can be used to lock and unlock, sound the alarm, and even remotely start a car. This means that you can control your car from anywhere in the world as long as you have a wireless signal. Being able to control your car with your iPhone means that it's one less thing for you to carry around with you.


Viper SmartStart is a great example of how multi-touch technology is growing. As one of the most poplar applications of multi-touch technology, the iPhone will continue to present the world with new and amazing technology. This has made me wonder about how multi-touch began and how it will change how we will use multi-touch in interaction with other technology in the future. To see Microsoft's version of this future check out this link.

Your iPhone Is Now Your Car Keys

http://gizmodo.com/5380504/your-iphone-is-now-your-car-keys?autoplay=true

Notes:
• Viper
    o leader in security and remote start technology
• iPhone
    o Apple
    o Multi-touch interface
    o Yearly updated
    o Thousands of downloadable applications (apps)
• What You Need
    o Apple iPhone
    o Viper SmartStart application
    o Viper remote start hardware
    o Viper SmartStart module
    o Cellular Service and Signal
• How it Works
    o A signal is sent to the car from the iPhone Smart Start application
    o This signal is received by the car’s Smart Start module over a cellular signal
• How is it different form any other remote starter?
     o It is located on your iPhone which already has everything else you need, so it is one less thing to carry
     o Because is over a cellular signal, your car can be started, opened, locked, set the alarm off anywhere your iPhone and car have a signal
• How is this multi-touch?
     o The iPhone is entirely a multi-touch interface besides two physical buttons
     o The iPhone is advertised with the saying something like ‘on the app store, there is an app for everything’

Confirmation Essay

             I have found that multi-touch technologies will present me with enough up-to-date information that it will keep my interest for the 5 to 6 months. It may also influence my future career, too. I want to be a naval architect and multi-touch technology might become the most popular and efficient way to interact with the design programs in the future. Currently, multi-touch is being used while designing and manipulating pictures in programs like Photoshop. 

              I have come up with multiple updated websites that are solely focused on multi-touch technologies and their applications to portable electronics and computers. I am also constantly finding more and more sources of related information. This information will be constantly flowing, so it will be easy to find the most current information.

There is also a lot of different places for me to retrieve informaiton. I already have a list of sources that is constantly growing. Getting diverse views and ideas about my topic should be relitivley easy.  However, getting nice pictures that are in the public domain wont be as easy. 

This topic will be continuing to be used in different ways and for different things. Over time the technology wont change but its applications will, but his is usually the case with most technology today. The changing uses for this technology will be plenty of stuff to write and report about.

This topic will challeng me to think in new ways, too. I will attempt to predict how multi-touch technology possibly could be used in new way for what reasons. This is the main thing that most of the profesionals are also trying to figure out. I think that this would be a fun thing to do and it will, most deffinately, keep my interest for the next five to six months.