Saturday, May 24, 2008

More of Microsoft's Andy Wilson: Video of Surface Multi-Touch Computing

More multi-touch from Microsoft Research:

Andy Wilson
's demo videos of his experimental work with multi-touch computing at Microsoft Research, from East Company Live. He answers questions and explains touch-screen technologies, interaction techniques,and the upcoming IEEE conference on Tabletop Computing this October. In Part III, Wilson mentions a DYI algorithm for image-processing in a paper from an ACM UIST conference:

Part I


PART II


PART III



I want this sort of technology in my hands because I think it would help special needs children in many ways. The table or drafting board form supports collaboration, communication, and it also might be good for cooperative learning projects. Microsoft's Social Computing Group is working on several applications that might be appropriate for surface computing, if properly adapted.

Meridith R. Morris, a researcher in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group at Microsoft, worked on a cooperative game for developing social skills among middle school students who had Asperger's Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, when she was a graduate student at Stanford.


SIDES: A Cooperative Tabletop Computer Game for Social Skills Development pdf


I know from my work as a school psychologist that more tools are needed to ensure that all children have access to engaging, meaningful learning experiences. Interactive whiteboards are great, but they are no substitute for a collaborative table!

I've been working on my own touch-screen "experiments" and ideas for over a year now, and would welcome the opportunity to test things with potential end-users, on a variety of displays and multi-touch formats. I think it would essential to develop and test multi-touch applications out of the lab.


(Disclaimer: I am not a Microsoft shill.)

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