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- MrFreeman, on 04/07/2009, -1/+99sweet another awesome toy I cant afford to build.
- pygmalion, on 04/07/2009, -0/+38My friends and I built our own multitouch table in college last semester. We did everything ourselves even though it's largely inspired on the commercially available "Reactable".
Check out the video here (Quicktime 7 video with French narration):
http://monospaced.info/usynth - sinuegoist, on 04/07/2009, -0/+27This is the next step in DIY. Truly amazing.
- superkendall, on 04/07/2009, -0/+21Nothing like building your own big-ass table computer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY - blackninja543, on 04/07/2009, -1/+20HOLY *****!
- cfuse, on 04/07/2009, -2/+19Quicktime & French narration! Non.
- Duffle, on 04/07/2009, -0/+16I built a really, really half-assed one in grade 7 after reading a bit on NUI Group. The table hardly responded (External light interference) but it did something, and I was fairly proud. Then I had to return the projector to my friends dad. The multitouch homebrew scene has exploded since then, the methods of building tables has improved and the software is getting easier and easier to set up. It won't be long before it's possible to build a fully functioning setup in a day.
Get involved, it's easier than you might think. - ShelleighOo, on 04/07/2009, -1/+16I will be impressed when I can build my own Minority Report-type computer.
- crimsonaluca, on 04/07/2009, -0/+13There's a huge latency in asking the CPU to do image processing through touchlib. The thing is running as a process and it's going to be competing for priority with other processes, it's ineviteable that this thing will be slow as hell. Heck look at that video, I'd honestly prefer a mouse.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against multitouch. I'm all for it, but the DIY version is slow. I want to see in multitouch what I see in the video below:
http://www.perceptivepixel.com/
Essentially the only way to get something consumer friendly out of multitouch is to have an ASIC handle the blob tracking. Your mouse actually already does this. - Me1000, on 04/07/2009, -1/+12And ordinary people have no use for a computer either...
[/reference to IBM in the late 70's] - EvanGH, on 04/07/2009, -1/+8What, like reading this article?
- josephrbarton, on 04/07/2009, -0/+7Still might be too expensive, but its kinda cool how much less it costs:
"I didn't put a total cost because how much you would pay for the materials used in the build can vary a lot based on where you live. Here in San Francisco, with a good local source for acryllic and vellum, we paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $350 for all the supplies. That includes the LEDS, wood, vellum, camera, mirror, heat absorbing glass, and silicon. If you don't already have a projector to use, that'll cost extra, although sites like craiglist and ebay have some pretty good deals on used projectors.
It's not pocket change, of course, but it's definitely a whole lot cheaper than any of the commercial multi-touch solutions available right now" - hawk3210, on 04/07/2009, -0/+7I always wondered how the technology behind that works, but was always too lazy to look into it. Thanks Digg (and the dudes who did it)!
- Khast, on 04/07/2009, -0/+7I can't wait until Heath Kit releases it! :D
- djmoya, on 04/07/2009, -9/+15Really.. this is front page news? Check out http://tbeta.nuigroup.com/ for the software and how to . This stuff has been out for years and has been on digg numerous times.
- Gareth321, on 04/07/2009, -0/+6That's... actually affordable. If the result is semi-professional, I don't see why people can't get into business for themselves and retrofit this in establishments that can't afford the $10-15k that MS wants.
- Clbull, on 04/07/2009, -0/+5I'm sorry, but that is a stupid comment.
- compguy101101, on 04/07/2009, -0/+5Johnny Mnemonic did it first.
- Bangaarang, on 04/07/2009, -0/+5Or a DS
- 0crabby0, on 04/07/2009, -0/+5I have a Pre-Cog in the basement...lol
- digitalpencil, on 04/07/2009, -0/+4^ MS Surface is a different kettle of fish to these home-brew affairs. It uses multiple cameras, a HD short-throw projector, and what I imagine to be some sort of RFID system to detect specific devices when placed on the FTIR pane.. Then you've got the software.
Not saying it isn't possible, just that you'd probably be looking at at least a couple of grand to get something of a similar quality and it still wouldn't be enterprise-ready. - Duffle, on 04/07/2009, -0/+4There's lots of potential but people haven't taken advantage of it. All you see are map, photo, and painting applications. New desktop applications are coming and it won't be long before there's a healthy amount of applications with serious purposes.
- pygmalion, on 04/07/2009, -0/+3Sure, an awesome reference is the reactable project website. Their packaged product (the Reactable) is proprietary, but the computer vision algorithms and their ReactiVision software is fully open source.
http://mtg.upf.es/reactable/
You'll find several scientific publications in PDF format. My advice is to look at the equipment available to you before you start. In our case, we had a high end FireWire camera from http://www.pixelink.com and a very bright $1200 LCD projector. We didn't have wide angle lenses for either, however. We got around that using mirrors as you can see from our video. Materials to build the table itself cost us around $200 CAD.
Good luck, it's a lot of fun! - mediaphile, on 04/07/2009, -1/+4I guess you've never played with an iPhone.
- PeauProductions, on 04/07/2009, -1/+4If you guys have questions into any of the tech about these optical-based multitouch setups, as mentioned before check out www.nuigroup.com/forums. You can build setups from low cost up to high end and there is a huge group (4500+ members) there to help. Ive put together a website completely dedicated to it also: www.peauproductions.com where you can find out tons of info.
- sbazzle, on 04/07/2009, -0/+3Wow.....way to get excited about advances in technology. We'll get you an abacus instead.
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -0/+2I will be stunned if you really want to.
Really? You want a computer you have to stand to use in the middle of a 20'x20' room, that requires you to make broad sweeping arm movements to do anything? I'd consider that about a mile of backwards steps in usability. - mekura, on 04/07/2009, -0/+2It's a great demo, especially to show the relative ease with which such a system can be created. However, as they state, it's certainly not ready for the masses. I'm excited for when multitouch surfaces become more responsive and well-supported. Note that the onscreen keyboard isn't quite perfect - they accidentally type "maimumpc.com" at the end of the video.
- j0hnglist, on 04/07/2009, -1/+3sweet another awesome toy I dont have the skills to build
ps: maybe I should have paid more attention in woodshop class - oda1, on 04/07/2009, -1/+3I might be dyslexic... I read it twice and read it as "build your own mustache"
- EvanGH, on 04/07/2009, -2/+4eff yeah. This isn't exactly something you can ring tech support to troubleshoot. Well done, dudes.
- Bangaarang, on 04/07/2009, -0/+2Your just jealous because you don't have one.
- jessy1984, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1Really informative news, I always think that how this technology works. Now i know things which are behind this technology.
- jgopp, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1I think you might be able to use a projector paint on the back side of the acrylic instead of that paper stuff, htis would result in a non wrinkle surface and perfect projection onto the plastic.
- Atheuz, on 04/08/2009, -0/+1So how much would this even cost and what's the difficulty of making one of these with no prior experience with this sort of thing?
- willski, on 04/07/2009, -1/+2Portable devices were the first places because one vendor controls hardware, display, and software. People didn't really take advantage of the mouse until Windows and Lotus 1-2-3 either. Support and displays are just starting to come out, we should see a lot of cool and useful stuff in the next few years.
- pygmalion, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1The paper acts as a diffuser. Just like tracing paper doesn't let you see the drawing underneath until you press the two together, the surface and your figure must be in contact for the effect to work. If you put the paper under the glass, it won't work. You could, however, add another layer on top, something like like a very thin sheet of clear acrylic.
- feignNU, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1I did something very similar in college a few years ago. Got to take it to SIGGRAPH to demo. Pretty fun stuff.
- crimsonaluca, on 04/07/2009, -2/+3http://www.perceptivepixel.com/
The future of multitouch is not in portable devices. Multitouch is much more natural and intuitive on the big screen. Just look at that video. That is what multitouch is all about.
On the other hand, multitouch on portable devices is a ***** gimmick. Honestly, it offers virtually little ADVANTAGE over a physical button. In fact multitouch adds a sort of awkwardness to the UI. People aren't use to manipulating a GUI that small with just two fingers. Multitouch is about freedom, I want to plop my hand on a screen move/resize windows without a second though. - mysn239, on 04/07/2009, -3/+4Dugg for Wolverine photo
- PeauProductions, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1Actually it does work. You dont even need anything like a diffuser if you want. Some setups use the diffuser mainly as a projection layer for the projector. If the effect you are after is to track objects above the touch surface, and not necessarily touching the surface, you just filter the image from the camera to do so. Some setups like the iBar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKehq6qsdY) use this ability for visualization stuff to track hands and arms over the surface.
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1I'm surprised someone dugg you down. Thanks for offering this resource.
- cosmicr, on 04/17/2009, -0/+1So has anyone actually built one of these yet? I'd love to see photos of other peoples attempts.
- crimsonaluca, on 04/08/2009, -0/+1I've seen cutting edge CPU hardware. And it doesn't work . Even the microsoft surface lags. This is due entirely to the fact that the image processing is done by the CPU.
Rocking an i7 platform is stupid. It won't work. Latency is unevitable. You see all those multitouch apps running at the same time? Those apps are going to be competing for processing cycles from the CPU. It's ineviteable that touchlib will experience "hiccups"
and also a solid state drive? Are you ***** retarded? You don't want the CPU to use the hardrive for memory during multitouch processing because that introduces Latency. Also if it did access the solid state drive for memory do you realize how fast that thing will wear down? Solid state memory cells HAVE LIMITED READ/WRITE cycles. 100,000 cycles at most. You tell me what happens when a camera is writing 60 frames of data to the solid state drive per second.
Ideally the CPU and the whole computer itself shouldn't even be aware of the image processing. All of this should be abstracted away from the computer and multitouch should be a peripherial that handles image processing on an ASIC similar to the wiimote or the conventional optical mouse. - zzzpoohzzz, on 04/07/2009, -2/+3yeah i remember when i was going to make a DIY projector... nope that never happened, and neither will this...
good for them though! - danwallace, on 04/07/2009, -1/+2Honestly, I understand the need for new input methods, but I just don't see touch as the future.
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -1/+2Have you seen cutting edge CPU hardware these days? If you put $1,000 or more into the tower, there is no way a DIY version would be slow.
Rock an i7 platform with some Solid State Disks and blast through windows 7! - BaconOclock, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1Give me money and I'll build you one.
- someguy92, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1Someone's already done it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -0/+1Zing!
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