SpaceClaim Bringing in Multi-touch Capabilities. 3D CAD Geometry is Shocked. {Video}

• tmholtt
  Utilizes a 19" 3M Multi-touch display. Info at www.3m.com/multitouch.
• Benny Shaviv
  Sweet! I dont have any useful comment except for sweet!!!
  yes, you still need a mouse. yes, in reality you may not use multi-touch all that much. yes, the icky finger prints are annoying.
  
  but its sweet!
• bcourter
  I am super obsessive about keeping people's fingers off of my monitors. Every once in a while our marketing VP comes over and points at my screen will a ballpoint. Makes me go deaf with horror. Also, I can't stand it when someone with a greasy hand uses my mouse. And I'm not an OCD kind of guy. I probably only dust my monitor every other month.
  
  But for some reason it didn't bother me with multi-touch. It's like when you go camping and you embrace that you are going to be a little dirty for a few days. I will always have at least two displays, and one will be clean, sitting right above my multi-touch.
  
  When recording the video, I cleaned the multi-touch every few hours. But that was for a video. In real life, maybe once a day. We'll see.
• jim_techclarity
  Blake,
  Interesting observation. I have a tablet PC. When it is in laptop configuration, I expect the screen to be clean and smudge-free. When I convert it to tablet mode, I just expect it to get smudges. Same screen, different use, different expectations (and tolerance) for cleanliness.
  
  There is a big difference between you own smudges and someone else's, too. Don't hand my phone back to me with finger smudges or (worse) cheek smudges from holding it against your face. Ewwww.
• bcourter
  Exactly. I mainly shot it on the weekend, but I would usually clean it after others had come by to play. Peter, our UPS guy, thought it was pretty cool and picked up on view orientation faster than I've ever seen anyone do with a mouse.
  
  Which reminds me. Here's the setup for the video. Notice the bottle of screen cleaner and microfiber rag...
  
  http://twitpic.com/b3wna
  
  Not the ergonomic design I envision, but that height was totally comfortable. When modeling the bits to set up different scenes, I tried to do everything in multi-touch, so I wasn't using the mouse or keyboard frequently.
• Josh M
  from some stuff I've seen coming out in this area, multiple input devices will be used - mouse, pen, stylus. check out N-trig, did a post a while back on their stuff. The surfaces being developed are less prone to pick up smudges and fingermarks - I imagine it much like keeping a keyboard clean, except easier.
• bcourter
  Fingers are a little less precise, but selection filters and query select help. N-Trig makes a display with a stylus, which helps a ton. I just lay my multi-touch display almost horizontal like a drafting table and use it with a mouse when I need precision.
  
  That said, four-finger box select is the most awesome way to select ever. I use it like ten times in that video, and I cannot live without it. It's higher bandwidth interaction, which increases my productivity modeling.
  
  In short, don't throw out your mouse. You can have the best of both worlds.
  
  -B
• jim_techclarity
  Brian, I agree with the "don't throw out your mouse" comment. I made some comments on interfaces in my post (Wii using motion vs. Xbox using controls, the addition of multi-touch, etc.). I think there is some real business value in this, but I think the ultimate user interface will involve a hybrid model. Thanks for getting us all thinking. http://tech-clarity.com/clarityonplm/2009/multi...
• bcourter
  Jim babe, it's me, Blake.
  
  I will shortly design a new kind of desk. It will look like a drafting table with keyboard, mouse and a multi-touch display. Also a pair of turntables and a rack of lights overhead. I will sit on a stool or stand, headphones around my neck. In the future, no one will use 3D without multi-touch and techno.
• jim_techclarity
  Thanks for the visual. I can see Josh breaking down the beat on the beatbox with you running your techno-drafting-board thing wearing your one sequined, virtual reality glove.
  
  Blake, my apologies for the wrong name. I owe you a drink.
• Josh M
  ha! I'm down with it. just as long as your freestylin there Jim. DJ B-lake on the t-tables.
  
  "Well it's...
  50 cups of coffee and you know it's on!!!!
  I move the crowd to the break of break of dawn!!! "
• jim_techclarity
  If what they say is true, and it ain't no fad,
  We will all be mul-ti-touch-ing on our CAD,
  Josh will rock the beat and B-lake will style,
  And I will be one freaky rappin' technophile!
• Josh M
  You and Brad Peebler from Luxology need to get together.
• Marijn
  Cool vid man, now cad drafting will be like a pianist making music.
• danshope
  Mmmm. I like the looks of that. Unless you have a large touchscreen, multitouch requires larger/re-designed interface elements. Clicking on tiny buttons would give one a headache. Still, awesome tech development.
• tyler524
  That is pretty damn sweet. Some cool stuff going on there with all the different ways the multi touch is implemented. The coolest part about it all is that this is not some movie but actually real world application going on.
• Josh M
  so true. real world. It's hard to get past dealing with how accurate multi-touch (with fingers) is, but there's ways around this and it' looks as if they've put in some unique controls that help. hoping to find out more about it soon.

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