[IxDA Discuss] Scenarios for multitouch displays?

[Taneem Talukdar]

Hi all,

Before I continue with the assumption that for this discussion, security
issues are moot, I just wanted to say that I'm not sure why security is such
a big deal to start with. It seems fairly certain that you would need some
kind of authentication system before you could do many of the things like
what the videos on the Surface website show. Kind of like how you log in to
computer accounts today. Maybe in some places it would use biometrics, in
others a username and password ... whatever. Are there any security issues
specific to a touch computer screen that wouldn't be addressed with logging
in / logging out etc?

As for product ideas -- I just spent a few minutes tapping my fingers on the
flat surface of my desk and moving around imaginary documents and emails ...
from this *extensive* testing, I think I'd be pretty comfortable with
removing my computer (and my phone) and replacing it with a Surface like
machine in my cubicle (what an unexciting application, I know).

Another good use would be at home where you would be able to use the
internet without "going on the computer". Just replace your regular living
room table with one of these (assuming that it's robust enough for this
environment). Then while relaxing in your living room, this table could
serve as everything from displaying the TV guide, displaying a virtual TV
remote (never lose the remote again!), allowing you to make phone calls
without needing a regular phone (VOIP!), to opening a webcam connection with
a friend, or a mini-browser window to check the weather.

I think that's the kind of thing that's quite realistic, and is the kind of
applications that Surface-like products are uniquely suited for. If this
thing runs Vista, and allows for  USB connections, it would not be hard to
actually build a product around the table that does what I just described. I
think that's the bigger innovation here by Microsoft, rather than the actual
mechanics or concept of multi-touch.

On the flipside...

I also think it's tempting to ascribe applications to this that really,
could be easily done on regular computers (but people don't). For example,
the video on the MS site of the guy mapping a route on a map on Surface and
transferring it to a phone. You don't need a touch surface to do that. You
could just as easily click on two locations on a Google map and have it
transfer the route over to your phone (and maybe somewhere this application
already exists). But nobody seems to do that. I think this is analogous to
the kind of trap that some of the dotcoms fell into that Trip described.

Cheers,

Taneem Talukdar


On 6/1/07, pauric <radiorental at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I think its fair to counter your version of the iPod chain of events
> with the points that there were personal music players before, as
> there are computers preceding the Surface.  But Apple's key to
> success was to tell the story, people could relate to portable music
> players in their pockets.  Then in conjunction with itunes you had a
> vertical solution. It isnt about the tech, its about the music.
>
> Regarding the "B-school types (that) were asking about the internet
> in the middle/ late'90s and is what led to so many ill-concieved,
> over-caffeinated, internet startups." Hold up! they weren't asking
> where's the story?  Money was gushing, no one asked the right
> questions and when dawn rose after the party it was a very bleak
> landscape.
>
> Now, we're all wise enough to be able to peer in to our personal
> crystal balls and postulate on the vision, the story.  Its a fools
> errand to just sit here and say this is disruptive technology, a new
> dawn is rising.
>
> What is being disrupted? Kiosks?
>
>
> Hasn't anyone got a realistic elevator pitch on this thing???
>
>
> (fwiw: I'm not anti MS or pro Apple, I personally think the iPod is
> a P.O.S. (but its got a killer story))
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://beta.ixda.org/discuss?post=16850
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org
> List Guidelines ............ http://listguide.ixda.org/
> List Help .................. http://listhelp.ixda.org/
> (Un)Subscription Options ... http://subscription-options.ixda.org/
> Announcements List ......... http://subscribe-announce.ixda.org/
> Questions .................. lists at ixda.org
> Home ....................... http://ixda.org/
> Resource Library ........... http://resources.ixda.org
>