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Tag Archive | "multi touch"

Mobile Multi-Display on iOS


Aachen University, Germany demonstrated an interesting iOS-based application this week at MWC. The application utilises multiple iOS devices as display exptensions to create one large multitouch display. The really interesting thing about this setup is the way that the screen positioning is calculated. During set-up, all but one of the displays shows a visual code. An image is taken of the arrangement with the final, control device which then calculates the relative positions. The final device is placed into the array and set by hand. The result is impressive!

You can find out more about the project and application here.

Asus Eee T91 and multi-touch T91MT are finally shipping


t91mt Not too long ago we wondered what happened to the T91 which seemed to launch only to quickly succumb to a total lack of supply in the face of big demand.

There still doesn’t appear to be one simple answer as to why the Asus Eee T91 [Portal page] went through some awfully turbulent supplies at its initial launch, but it would seem that to a certain extent things were waiting on Windows 7.

t91 Now suddenly it looks like Dynamism and Amazon have plenty of T91s to sell, and the aptly named and multi-touch capable T91MT, which Chippy mentioned was pre-ordering last week, is now shipping as well.

The T91MT is the first multi-touch version of the T91 and it ships with Windows 7 (the regular T91 ships with XP). It still isn’t even official on Asus.com, but I suppose that isn’t stopping vendors like Amazon from selling it.

Seems like ‘kubel’ from recently established MyT91.info is one of the first to get his/her hands on the T91MT and has already provided an unboxing with a full review soon to come.

We’ll have to wait on further reports, but a glance at a T91MT intro video on YouTube seems to imply that the unit is capable of pressure sensitivity and palm rejection despite lacking an active digitizer which is quite an interesting proposition.

Update: Kubel from myt91.info has left us some info in the coments, and among other things say that the T91MT does not appear to have a pressure sensitive screen (ie: can’t tell the difference between a hard touch and a soft touch). This is disappointing to hear, but then again we can’t really expect full tablet PC features on a little netbook sized (and priced) convertible.

Marmot iTouch Multi gloves mini-review and video demo


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I’ve been on vacation for the last week doing some snowboarding in Colorado, but it wasn’t all play. I’ve been doing an accessory review for you, our good readers. For the last week, I’ve been testing the Marmot iTouch Multi gloves for use with capacitive touchscreens.

What Are They?

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The iTouch Multi gloves from Marmot are gloves that have a special tip on the index-finger and thumb that allow one to use capacitive touch devices that normally only work with bare fingers. I bought mine at a local ski/snowboard shop for only $35. These gloves aren’t thick (or water-resistant) enough for use as dedicated skiing/snowboarding gloves, but they work great as liners for larger gloves or for stand-alone gloves in brisk weather.

How do they work?

On both gloves are pads on the index-finger and thumb that have a special material that activate the capacitive touch device. The material helps transfer the field that you fingers’ naturally generate which acts to disrupt a field created by a capacitive touchscreen, thus locating the region that the screen has been touched. It seems that these gloves are rather new, as I can’t even locate them on Marmot’s site, so I unfortunately don’t know the exact origin of the material. The special material is flexible, and it goes over top of the regular glove material, so you thumb and index-finger stay just as warm as your other fingers.

How do they perform?

 

I’m pretty impressed with the gloves. They work about as well as I expected them to. I bought these gloves with the desire to be able to operate the basic functions of my iPhone 3G in the cold without having to remove my gloves. I also wanted them to function as a liner for larger gloves so that I could take my outer gloves off while snowboarding and be able to use my phone on the slopes without my hands freezing off.

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The special material on the index-finger and thumb work well to initiate touchscreen input. Of course it isn’t the surface of your real finger, so it is hard to be as accurate as normal, but as long as you are careful, it is possible to touch right where you are trying to. Sometimes it is easiest to use the side of the glove tip where it comes to more of a point to hit exactly what you want. The gloves make it easy to answer and place phone calls without taking your gloves off. Though it might take more time, you can also respond to text messages. When returning texts, it is only practical to type with one finger; you won’t be typing with two thumbs like you might normally.

I only have two issues with these gloves. The first of which is grip. The gloves are covered on the palm side with little rubbery grips that look just like the red logo on the index-finger. While they probably assist your grip somewhat, holding the iPhone is still analogous to holding a wet bar of a soap. Ok that might be a bit of an overstatement, but I would recommend being very careful while holding your electronic device. For me, holding and typing with the same hand was totally out of the question. While I was on the ski lifts, I would hold my iPhone firmly with one hand and use the other to navigate, any other way would just be asking to lose your iPhone to the snow 30 feet under you. Stopping to answer a call on the slopes wasn’t much of an issue. All I had to do was take off my outer glove and slide the slider to answer. I was able to talk on the phone without completely taking off my gloves, which is very nice when you are out in the cold.

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My second complaint is build quality. The gloves would probably hold up very well if they were used by themselves. However, a week of being used as liners is already taking its toll. The special pads are already frayed. After prolonged use as liners, it seems like they would degrade fairly quickly. As I said, during stand-alone use, they would probably last much longer.

Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the gloves, and I feel that they are priced fairly. Any glove makers out there think they have a better pair of capacitive touch enabled gloves? Contact me at Ben [at] umpcportal.com if you would like to have them reviewed.

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