Can you really imagine using more than two fingers on such a small screen? You certainly wouldn't do so for anything *useful*. Come to think of it, these five-fingered demos I've seen have *never* included anything useful.

Point is, the iPhone supports functionality appropriate to the iPhone; a very small device. Larger devices probably *should* support more fingers for... whatever application they're sure to eventually come up with.

macserv

foob

There is a growing community of developers making their own prototypes, we hang around on #ftir on irc.freenode.net, but the biggest bottleneck is developing good software. I think this is probably where Han will make his money.

This is Jeff Han's latest video which is a bit more impressive:
http://fastcompany.com/video/general/perceptivepixel.html<...

Joobs

As you might know if you read John Gruber's Linked List it's not entirely unlikely that Apple is actually using Jeff Han's FTIR technology in the iPhone. Jeff drops a hint of something along those lines on his site. (Okay, so maybe it isn't the FTIR per se, but anyways, it's multitouch.)

Do you remember that Apple said that they had one more feature in Leopard that they wanted to keep under the covers until later? Also, do you recall that apple released no new macs at MWSF? That they did not demo Leopard at all there?

Well, doesn't it suddenly seem entirely possible that the reason for this is that Apple is making also the computer version of Mac OS X multitouch-compatible? And that all new Apple laptops, iMacs and monitors will be equipped with an FTIR/multitouch screen? And they didn't want to show any one of those components (new OS or new hardware) until the entire package was complete and ready to be released?

For those of you who don't yet realize what an amazing thing multitouch is and what kind of actual real-life applications it has, please watch the TactaPad demo reel. If Jeff Han's demo didn't amaze you, this will most likely blow you away (because it's a real-world application, not just a nifty demo).

(By the way, there's a more high-res version of that youtube video over at the TED talks site.)

nevyn

LOL! Isn't it great how ultracapitalist corporations can even make money from their worst nightmares, in this case Sarbanes-Oxley?

@Peter Kirn

The iPhone will succeed where Zune failed... it's the social, stupid! One word: Twister!

jmdecombe

Phoenixdebaser

caramelzappa

But yes, this does demonstrate the possibilities. It makes sense for Apple to limit to two points of contact for reliability given the size of the device. And certainly we'll see more multi-touch, using methods other than back-projection (since that's impractical in most contexts), just as we've seen the JazzMutant Lemur, shipped by Cycling '74.

At the same time, I wonder if there aren't still lots of possibilities for tactile interfaces, which multi-touch screens generally are not.

Peter Kirn

Thoth74

bvicarious

Also, the cameras in this case have to be far enough from the panel to have a clear view of panel itself. This will make the overall size of the device rather deep, which in the age of LCDs and plasmas is a downside.

While you're right that an eventual device could be thin it also probably won't use FTIR.

getgreg

gibson042

wonder how much they will charge to enable that ;)

i cant wait to see ANYTHING with this, i dont care if its a hello kitty DVD kiosk, i want to use it!

relawson

2 things:
1. first off, when cameras are being stuck into 5mm thick cellphones, i wouldn't worry about size. his tech demo is little more than a homebrew prototype, full production models would probably be no thicker than keyboards today.

2. the point isn't the technology in making a multitouch panel, it's multitouch itself. the importance is the design of the software interface and how multitouch allows people to interact with computers differently. intuitiveness is key.

willyolio

Mike918

Cleverboy

Y1n_X1

getgreg

SexCpotatoes

MrBlue

joyceman

A touchscreen keyboard.

:D

Klappstuhl

BTW, how do you know that the iPhone is limited to two points of pressure? Maybe the current functionality uses only one or two points of pressure, but the technology may already support more. Now, whether that would matter on such a small screen is another story...

You can check out Tog's take on the iPhone UI here:

http://www.asktog.com/columns/070iPhoneFirstLook.html

jmdecombe

Y1n_X1

Ok, so maybe not everyone is familiar with them, but grow up in a WOP family and you talk with your hands. Between touch screen interfaces and chips imbedded in my brain ala Johnny Neumonic, I'm all for future tech to get here. Add in the nanotech that will keep me buff, beautiful and healthy without any work, ala "The First Immortal" and I'm set.

Transhuminism is alive and well folks. This video is showing us the first major step in combining technology with native human motion, which in turn will start the ball rolling to what we should become on the next step of human evolution.

bigTrue

Hmm, kept thinking of using a real paintbrush with this to actualy paint in Photoshop.

scingram

PS: Not a card carrying member of the Apple Fanboy Club.

maksmir

blts