The word of 2007 is “multi-touch“. It’s everywhere, from the iPhone to the Microsoft Surface. We weren’t happy with just one finger on the touch-sensitive screens, we wanted to put all 10 fingers and probably some toes on too, and multi-touch was born.
One of the most memorable and widespread demonstrations of multi-touch technology is probably the TED presentation by Jeff Han in 2006. I don’t know exactly why but his prototype has become the benchmark for multi-touch technologies. However if I recall correctly, the iPhone is the only portable device that could achieve the desired effect without the bulky equipment required in many other setup such as the Surface. But the fallback being skin-sensitive only, an issue to those with big hands who wants to use their nails or disabilities.
The idea of having a multi-touch-capable laptop sounds pretty sweet, but of course no one would want to carry a cathode-ray-tube in their backpack, so how do you come up with a solution for a screen less than an inch thick? Microsoft Research Cambridge’s Steve Hodges might have the answer.
Steve’s solution is remarkably simple yet effective. With an off-the-shelf laptop, he retrofitted some infrared sensors on the back and together with the magic of software, you have multi-touch! Check out the following video clip (excerpt from MSR Cambridge video) to see his demonstration. It has all the dragging and pinching demos you’d expect to see in every multi-touch display, so don’t expect to be blown away.
Granted the sensors are a little thick at the moment and only affect a portion of the screen, but it’s dead simple and presumably just as cheap. Obviously with some more work on the production and aesthetics side of things (no one wants a hole in the back of their screen), this could become a mainstream solution.
In addition, because he uses infrared technology, an added enhancement is the ability to pick up infrared signals from a standard remote. There’s nothing exactly new about remotes and laptops, several on the market already use built-in remotes for media browsing activities. However again, this could drive the technology mainstream and spark a whole wave of do-it-yourself infrared hacks for computers.
Having said all that, the rate at which Microsoft Research projects are realized is not exactly fast or even promising for that matter. I hope this one picks up some pace and interest from computer manufacturers so all of us can twist and pinch pictures on our laptops in the near future.
Update: No thanks to Gizmodo for not linking to this post directly. 
Update 2: At least Engadget knows how to do it right.
Update 3: Gizmodo fixes their link. Original content for the win!
Comments for "Microsoft Research demonstrates laptop-compatible multi-touch displays. Can touch this."
John
Just wondering, what happens if someone behind you is trying to interfere with your computer by pointing their remote control at your laptop screen?
ClintEastman
Great looking tech, get the impression that it would be nice and cheap to implement and robust in practice. Lets just hope they pull there finger out (pun intended) and get some laptop/display manufactures on board.
RC
Surface, presumably users fewer IR cameras because they can be place farther away and so have a wider field of vision. Nonetheless, this might mean you can get a Surface like computer using an LCD screen instead of a projector that’s only a few inches thick.
ClintEastman
@RC If I remember correctly Surface uses 5 cameras.
Long Zheng
@John: Good point! Didn’t think of that.
@ClientEastman: I think you’re right, Surface’s pretty complicated.
cyarborough
For all of the multi-touch technologies, do they have a way to keep the screen from getting greasy? I am not the type of person to wash my hands every five minutes and have enough trouble trying to keep my not touch sensitive cell phone screen clean.
mrmckeb
Microsoft should make more hardware!
Dave the Lifekludger
Hey Long…thanks for the linkage!
Dave - Lifekludger
Long Zheng
@Dave: You are an inspiration. For those who don’t know, Dave is actually a quadriplegic who’s doing amazing things with computers. http://lifekludger.net/?page_id=5
RC
Anyone else notice they took a Dell laptop and turned the screen backwards? Heh.
Paolo
Cool idea. Something tells me that the surface will be very expensive. May provide some cheap competition.
Jared
I love how he says that it’ a “brand new technology” they’ve “developed” at Microsoft when that is a flat out lie. Multi-Touch has been around for a long time and was demoed by NYU years ago. It became mainstream with the iPhone.
It’s amusing to me that Apple can get Multi-Touch to work just perfectly on a small phone but MS still can’t on a large laptop screen. They need to connect all sorts of hardware to the back to rig it. the refresh rate is also slow on every MS demo I’ve seen. The images on the screen need time to catch up to the fingers of the users. It looks very sloppy.
nadz
Jared, the touch screen was in development 5 years ago, and the appications of surface can do waaayyy much more than what Apple has with the iPhone which is only touch and execute a command.
Jonathan
@ Jared
What is wrong with you? NO ONE OWNS MULTI-TOUCH. It is a concept not a technology. Just like no one owns the concept of an operating system or a mouse. This is a new concept and many organizations are taking different approaches implementing it. Isn’t this a good sign of innovation and advancement?
mark
Hey just don’t replace the mouse with this new technology, maybe some people won’t want to have to raise there arm off there desk to have to reach up out of there comfortable position just to navigate there displays on the screen.For the tired or just being lazy this might not be user friendly,I think the mouse is still easier you don’t have to use both hands. lol! Just kidding I’m sure the mouse will still be an option.:)
redfish
I can’t believe people are missing the point. This demo isn’t claiming multi-touch is a new technology, its about a particular method of adapting an already existing laptop display to have multi-touch.
gaothebao
Microsoft does it again! Pointing a remote control and making a carousel of 4 icons spin..now where have i seen THAT before? Front Row on Intel Macs maybe?
With multi touch you don’t need a carousel spinning around with 4 items…if you must rip off…just look at how the iPhone lets you choose items from cover flow
steve clayton
Hey Long, nice find!! You should check out http://www.skinkers.com to see an example of how MSR technology is finding its way out of the labs faster. I posted a video with their main man, Matteo Berulcchi, talking about the IP they have licensed from MSR and how they’re bringing out products based on it already. all part of http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/intellectualproperty/ipventures/d efault.mspx
videos at blogs.msdn.com/ptstv
Quiglag
Wow, looking forward to see what this can do in the future.
Guillermo
Looks like an iPhone!
carrotmadman6
How much time do you think it’ll take before multi-touch tablets are available??
How about multi-touch on an iMac
Lucas
LOL, pretty cool.
But my grandfather has the same mouse like him…
Haha
Morpheus
The iPhone uses capacitive technology which has been around for many many years. With a capacitive system you need a conductive medium, like your finger to change the sensor capacitance. The iPhone can’t see anything which is not conductive. The difference with the MSFT technology is that you can see anything which is on the surface, be it a figure, a credit card, or a plastic game piece. It is also different then the NYU technology which requires the object placed on the screen surface to break the TIR condition of the light guide. The MSFT technology does not need the object to be in “optical contact” with the screen. Again if you throw a credit card on the NYU system you won’t see it. With the surface you will! That’s big, and it opens up many more possibilities for the Surface than any other “Multi-Touch” system under development.
“eat the red pill”
Group Captain
It is a shame everyone here missed FingerWorks, a multi-touch keyboard that does all this and more today. I have been using them for the last 3 years, and even had one as a keyboard replacement in my Mac. Rumor has it that Apple bought the company, and have used the techonolgy in the iPhone. The keyboard is amazing, all the scrolling, zooming, switching stuff, here today, and in many of my conventional apps. The only difference, it isn’t on the screen.
http://www.fingerworks.com is all that is left.
GC
James
Jared,
iPhone didn’t make multitouch mainstream, it’s not even out yet. It wasn’t developed by NYU either, it was developer 20 years ago in Bell labs.
The big difference here is that every multitouch platform Microsoft has developed, we can develop for it. Every multitouch platform Apple has developed, you can’t develop anything that utilizes the multitouch.
And your iPhone won’t work with gloves on. That’s why it went on sale in the summer.
Chris
GC, I am pretty sure it was apple who brought fingerworks, since its the same technology in the iPhone… Capacitance, and fingerworks were the best around at the time, it makes sense for apple to buy it.
Andreas
The Lenovo Thinkpad X series tablet PC can do Multitouch since the X60 came out.
So this is not really something new.
dave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrr7AZ9nCY
naisioxerloro
Hi.
Good design, who make it?
Jeff Lewis
Andreas:
The X60 isn’t actually multitouch - it’s Multitouch - as in marketspeak. They’re referring to the fact that it’s touchscreen AND Wacom digitiser. The touchscreen part is a standard resistive touchscreen and can’t do multitouch.
The only full screen multitouch laptop out there at the moment is the Dell Latitude XT (well ok - it’s not actually out NOW.. but it’s up on their site and should be out shortly - and you can’t actually use the multitouch yet because, of course, there’s no software for Windows that knows how to do multitouch - but hey - someone has to be first…)
gaothebao:
Way to complete miss the point of a post. BTW, there were PC media center apps using that rotating carosel of icons before Apple used it - heck there were PCs using remotes before Apple as well.
Lawrence
Awesome. Flat out awesome find..
V1
Can’t wait till I can get one (Insert drool here)
Leave a Reply
Tablet PC and Ultra-Mobile PC News and Reviews - GottaBeMobile.com - Multi-Touch Off The Table and Onto The Laptop?
[...] PlayTable. Of course it begs the question when is multi-touch coming to a mobile computer near you. Long Zheng of istartedsomething links to a Microsoft Research video that contains a demo of multi-touch on a laptop screen. (It [...]
University Update - Microsoft Surface - Microsoft Research demonstrates laptop-compatible multi-touch displays. Can touch this.
[...] Link to Article Microsoft Research demonstrates laptop-compatible multi-touch displays. Can touch [...]
Multi-Touch Off The Table and Onto The Laptop? - Pocket.Net - Mobile 2.0
[...] PlayTable. Of course it begs the question when is multi-touch coming to a mobile computer near you. Long Zheng of istartedsomething links to a Microsoft Research video that contains a demo of multi-touch on a laptop screen. (It [...]
Microsoft Demos Multi-Touch Laptop - CyberNet News
[...] Source: I Started Something [...]
Microsoft Research demonstrates laptop-compatible multi-touch displays. | SurfaceRama.com
[...] Source:Istartedsomething.com Leave a Comment [...]
Майкрософт демонстрира нов лаптоп, базиран на multi-touch технология « Web 2.0 News
[...] По материали от IStartedSomething. [...]
Virtual Dreams » MSR: Que Surface que nada… imagine um laptop com multi-touch!
[...] (Vi no blog do Long Zheng) [...]
microsoft shows multi-touch laptop concept at dérive
[...] Just a few weeks back, Microsoft introduced their Surface tabletop multi-touch computer. Now Microsoft Research is showing off a prototype of a multi-touch interface portable computer. [...]
Online portfolio/weblog (web)designer/illustrator Michiel Nagtegaal » Blog Archive
[...] Een belangrijk nadeel van de huidige (multi)touch-screens is nog het forse formaat van de benodigde hardware. Daar lijken ze bij Microsoft in Engeland nu iets op te hebben gevonden: infrarood sensoren aan de achterkant van je scherm. Check de site en het filmpje van Microsoft Research hier. [...]
» News to know: Microsoft patch skeletons; Telepresence; Ubuntu; GDrive | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
[...] Zheng: Microsoft Research demonstrates laptop-compatible multi-touch displays. Can touch this. Verizon gains more FiOS Internet, TV traction; delusional on iPhone impact. Russell Shaw NXTcomm [...]
Microsoft Surface…the uncut version at Wiggler
[...] η Microsoft ετοιμάζει να μεταφέρει μία παρόμοια με την Surface τεχνολογία στις οθόνες των φορητών, [...]
JUST GOOD DESIGN | BLOG » Multi-touch, Surface Computing, iPhone, and more…
[...] MSR MultiTouch Laptop [...]
[MSFT-BE] Arlindo's Blog - IT Pro Evangelist : Surface Technology on a Laptop?
[...] On10, Istartedsomething Technorati tags: Microsoft Research, [...]
Multitouch | CHIP Blog
[...] folosind asa ceva acasa, dar cu siguranta exista persoane care sa adere la ea. Ieri am vazut o idee similara implementata intr-un laptop. La fel, mi se pare ceva interesant dar din nou nu as folosi. Mai logic [...]
Mobility Site » Blog Archive » Touch it!
[...] Zheng from istartedsomething.com has a clip with Microsoft Research Cambridge’s Steve Hodges showing off infrared-based [...]
Multi-Touch Laptop Demonstrated
[...] Source In Laptop News You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Leave a Reply [...]
Microsoft Researcher Demos Multi-Touch Notebook Display (video) | notebooks.com
[...] via i Started Something [...]
Zatz Not Funny!»Blog Archive » Surface Computing Laptop
[...] laptop. See the video scenes above of the prototype in action. These snippets are from a longer five-minute video, but I figured our ADD readers would appreciate the shorter excerpts. (courtesy of Gotuit’s [...]
Promaxum Technology News » Blog Archive » Microsoft R&D shows off multi-touch laptop
[...] istartedsomething, thanks Mitchel [...]
Microsoft - the Surface may be just the beginning
[...] initiative goes way beyond the formally announced Surface. Long Zheng of IStartedSomething has a great writeup of a multi-touch laptop screen developed at the company’s research facility in [...]
Is Microsoft's big-ass table just the beginning?
[...] multi-touch and surface computing products. The company’s Cambridge skunkworks is already developing a laptop version of the technology. Unlike the Surface, this one’s got a nice, petite [...]
Quiglag.com » Microsoft Multi-touch computer displays.
[...] Microsoft Multi-touch computer displays. Posted By: Quiglag Published in Cool, Tech 22Jun With an off-the-shelf laptop, he retrofitted some infrared sensors on the back and together with the magic of software, you have multi-touch! - iStartedSomething [...]
Lo Último en Tecnologia - Tecnoadeptos.com
[...] istartedsomething][Artículo en [...]
MS Touchscreen laptop demo « Deepink
[...] I got a chance to see photosynth at the NYS geospatial summit now they are showing off a demo of a laptop with a multi-touch display. This was just a matter of time. Looking at all three products I can’t help but thinking that [...]
BlogNerds.com » Blog Archive » Microsoft R&D shows off multi-touch laptop
[...] might come to market sooner rather than later. Be sure to watch the video after the break. [Via istartedsomething, thanks Mitchel [...]
Gizmodo
Microsoft’s Multi-touch laptop, Based on the Surface Table…
Microsoft is using the mulit-touch technology that they implemented into their Surface Table and porting it to normal computers. Check out the video above of a demo of a laptop modified to use multi-touch. Will multi-touch displays replace the……
iLaptop.mobi » Microsoft R&D shows off multi-touch laptop
[...] istartedsomething, thanks Mitchel [...]
iMicro.mobi » Microsoft R&D shows off multi-touch laptop
[...] istartedsomething, thanks Mitchel [...]
Microsoft Researchers Innovate multitouch laptop display at Tech | Freak , One stop for all your latest technology news and updates
[...] bring this technology to laptop screens without much change in the existing hardware. As stated by istartedsomething.com Microsoft Research Cambridge’s Steve Hodges has come up with a solution which is remarkably [...]
jarno's / trul's page
Microsoft’s Multi-Touch screen…
The word of 2007 is “multi-touch“. It’s everywhere, from the iPhone to the Microsoft Surface. We weren’t happy with just one finger on the touch-sensitive screens, we wanted to put all 10 fingers and probably some toes on too, and multi-touch w…
technabob
microsoft shows multi-touch laptop concept…
Just a few weeks back, Microsoft introduced their Surface tabletop multi-touch computer. Now Microsoft Research is showing off a prototype of a multi-touch interface portable computer.
By hacking some infrared sensors through the back of a standard la…
TechDip » Microsoft’s Multi-touch laptop, Based on the Surface Table
[...] multi-touch displays replace the boring old mouse in the future? [via istartedsomething] [...]
Another Multi-Touch Link « Impulse blogging
[...] Another Multi-Touch Link 24 06 2007 Multi-touch laptop from Microsoft Reseach Cambridge is here [...]
Microsoft Surface on a Laptop - PMP Today
[...] gizmodo, source] Sphere: Related [...]
rb.work» Blog Archive » Laptop-based multi-touch
[...] the Sensors and Devices team in Cambridge, reveals a new technical approach to multi-touch in the video below. The key to this approach, which was develops in collaboration with the Socio-Digital [...]
BlogNerds.com » Blog Archive » Microsoft R&D shows off multi-touch laptop
[...] might come to market sooner rather than later. Be sure to watch the video after the break. [Via istartedsomething, thanks Mitchel [...]
Microsoft cria tela sensível a toques para notebooks « alexronaldblog
[...] Mais informações: Is Started Something [...]
M3net
Microsoft Research…
2007 is seeing the computer industry taking a big step towards multi touch technology with the release of Apple’s iPhone and Microsoft announcing their Surface computer. From their Cambridge research labs, Microsoft’s sensors and devices gr…
Microsoft cria tela sensível a toques para notebooks « Blog TI
[...] Mais informações: Is Started Something [...]
Det var jo fint...
Multi-touch kommer til en PC nær deg…
Apple skryter voldsomt av sin mobil med multi-touchskjerm. Jeg ser ikke helt nytten av det, men når den dukker opp så kanskje det går opp et lys for meg. Jeg er en ta-på-fyr.
Men noe jeg tror kan bli mer nyttig er denne skjermen som Microsoft hol…
Experience Mobility » Blog Archive » Touch it!
[...] Zheng from istartedsomething.com has a clip with Microsoft Research Cambridge’s Steve Hodges showing off infrared-based [...]
XMediaLab.Pie » Blog Archive » Ancora multi touch?
[...] multi touch non è finita con Surface! Aspettando il fatidico 29/6 sono uscite parecchie notizie su touch screen vari, sempre made in Redmond, oppure rispetto ad altri “tavoli interattivi” e interaction [...]
Infos du Web
L’interface de demain sera tactile “multi-touch” !…
De la sortie de l’Iphone, en passant par le multi touch screen de Jeff Han ou la dernière nouveauté de Microsoft Surface, il est clair que l’innovation dans le domaine de l’interface s’oriente vers le tout tactile.
A quand cette techno…
intuity.medialab. » Blog Archiv » multi-touch
[...] [...]
Laptop Multi-Touch Display, Invalid FORMATETC structure, etc « Tales from a Trading Desk
[...] across this Microsoft Research demo of a laptop multi-touch display on a few [...]
BlogTrage » Microsoft R&D shows off multi-touch laptop
[...] istartedsomething, thanks Mitchel [...]
thedemos » Blog Archive » Multitouch Mania X: multitouch on laptop
[...] Links: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070620/msr-multi-touch-laptop/ [...]
Surface Computing::hands on interface « rhartmedia
[...] Surface Computing::hands on interface Microsoft Research demonstrates laptop-compatible multi-touch displays. Can touch this. [...]
GeekBrief.TV | Video Podcast » Archive » GBTV #0186 | GeekBrief.TV
[...] Muti-Touch Using Off-the-Shelf Components…AWESOME! Source: Microsoft Research [...]
Bátorfi Zsolt szakmai blogja
Érintésérzékeny felületek…
Ha valami, akkor ez egyszer össze fog találkozni a WPF-el:…
Reality check: what we know (and don’t) about Windows 7 - zakeh blog
[...] technology are indeed coming to Tablet PCs and laptops—Microsoft Research’s Steve Hodges demonstrated one possible way this transition could happen. Multitouch is definitely the future, and it looks [...]
Surface Computing | Cesar's learning mind of the web
[...] http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070620/msr-multi-touch-laptop/ [...]
Blog Janne Blankert - Minor UXD » Blog Archive » Assignment 2 The embedded experience Start of part 3
[...] Websites: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070620/msr-multi-touch-laptop/ [...]