Microsoft Research have added live, collaborative visuals to their bag of tricks for the Microsoft Surface multitouch table. Of course, in the process, they’re really demonstrating not only what you might to with Surface but with multitouch interfaces in general. In fact, it’s particularly odd that Microsoft hasn’t apparently made the connection with more generally-available multitouch hardware coming out, particularly with multitouch APIs built directly into Windows 7. HP is already shipping a mainstream laptop with a convertible, tablet-like form factor. And I don’t need to point out that this could lead to cross-platform, open source applications, not just those that run at Microsoft tech demos or on a unit installed in Vegas.

Via Ars Electronica:

VPlay: live video mixing meets Microsoft Surface (Subhead: “It’s like VJing on a Microsoft Surface!” Uh… actually, more than just like that, I’d say it is that.)

Thanks to Pedro Marques (VJ Danger) for the tip!

The ideas here, if in basic prototype form, are already interesting. The design is heavily influenced by (if not a direct copy of) the Reactable, down to the connectors between nodes.

http://mtg.upf.es/reactable/

Visuals arguably work even better, though, because they can be shown directly in a way sound cannot.

In this prototype, you can’t do much that you can’t already do with conventional visual software. But already, there are two significant, fundamental advantages. One is, having a nodal visual interface gives you really open-ended possibilities for setting up a set. Conventional software also relies on you to configure the modules you need in advance of performing. With this interface, you do it all live as you go – just as you can do with sound on the Reactable. Secondly, as the video points out, you can collaborate more easily, without fighting over knobs on your MIDI controller.

I couldn’t help but laugh at this particular frame from the video (which also, amusingly, heavily features Resolume v2):

Yeah? Speak for yourself. Us VJs are fighting the boys and girls off. We’re like fresh meat in a shark tank.

This solution is much better. Now people can get beer all over the inside of my multitouch controller. Give me the solitary existence any day.

If you’re interested in getting involved in our tangible interface hackday but had trouble filling out the form, here are the corrected links. Somehow I copied the wrong form keys yesterday.

RSVP in New York: New Work City Hackday / Party

RSVP anywhere you’re working in the world (no commitment, just so we can keep track of who’s interested, help you promote group events, and keep you informed)

International update: So far, Berlin, Canberra, Vienna, and India are interested in participating – and that was with the forms pointed in the wrong place! I think we can expect more. I’ll get in touch with you soon.

http://hackday.noisepages.com

Trackmate :: 5 ways to get started from adam kumpf on Vimeo.

The mouse is not all that interesting as an invention. When people first saw mice, in fact, they typically weren’t terribly impressed, and often simply went back to their preferred non-keyboard input, the joystick. But destroy the novelty of the mouse, give it to half the population of the world and wait a couple of decades, and fantastic things start to happen.

See also: the knob, which is basically a simple hack for changing resistance in a circuit.

So, what could happen if we take novel interfaces now and try to accelerate what you do with them? That’s what’s starting to take place with tangible, multi-touch, and augmented interfaces, with the help of shared code tools (OpenFrameworks, Processing, ActionScript), shared libraries and trackers (ReacTIVision, the TUIO protocol, and LusidOSC/Trackmate), and communities like the fantastic NUI Group.

But enough about reading about this stuff and/or working alone. We’re going to try a new experiment in which we get lots of folks building this stuff – experienced users, relatively inexperienced users, your friends – and getting as quickly as possible into the business of actually trying apps, especially for the visual and musical performance stuff that we love.

Now, you may not have folks near you who are comfortable with code or have any idea what the heck we’re talking about. But readers of CDM and fellow hackers will join up on the Internet leading up to and around June 6. We’ve got a nice, fast Internet connection in New York, and we’re setting up some tools to help us share video streams, code we create, and to allow informal text chat.

Here’s how to get involved and join us.

Head to http://hackday.noisepages.com/ for all the details. (If you’re interested in experimenting with in-development noisepages blogs and networking features as you make stuff, you may – ahem – find that registration is open.)

The need for spatial, 3D interfaces is prompting students and inventors to try some creative and economical solutions. Earlier this week, we saw a touch-free, gestural interface built entirely on the principles of electrostatic – yes, as in static electricity. (See the original story, with video.)

Justin Schunick of the team at Northeastern University wrote CDM with more details on the project.

I am the guy who is talking in the video.  We filmed this in our lab today.  We are all seniors in Electrical/Computer Engineering at Northeastern University and this was created for a senior design
competition called "Capstone".  What you see here is a culmination of ~8 months work.

The interface uses an array of copper electrodes to sense a certain change in the electric field created by the device.  The black material covering the electrodes shows how the interface can be hidden beneath surfaces to create a completely invisible interface. It is simple black felt you can buy at any fabric store.  The total cost of this prototype was around $60.00 USD.  [Ed.: Justin notes that that was just an estimate of the parts themselves - let's just say it wasn't pricey. -PK] We created custom software to communicate with our microcontroller with C++ and it enables us to use our device as a new type of XYZ computer mouse.  Think nintendo wii controller without the controller — or minority report without the gloves.  This is a perfect interface for a holographic display.  There are millions of applications and we are just scratching the surface - I am sure you are already thinking of all the possibilities enabled by this device.

And yes, I was right that the whole thing is built around a big felt blanket.

I’m thinking of one possibility – something useful to do with your Snuggie (half sweater, half blanket) after the bar crawl. As seen in the WTF Blanket (NSFW, at least with the sound on, depending on where you work).

In all seriousness, while you probably can’t say this of the Snuggie with a straight face, this 3D interface is truly an awesome use of mundane, everyday technology you take for granted.

More photos:

3D Computer Interface from Free Flow on Vimeo.

During long winters with indoor heat running overtime, I imagine you’ve built up your fair amount of static electricity, and as the sparks fly, wondered why you couldn’t put that power to some good use.

Working with electrostatics, a team of students at Northeastern University in Boston have done just that. For their senior design capstone project, they assembled a gestural interface which allows 3D control just by waving a hand in front of a computer. That sort of idea is all the rage these days. The difference here: there’s no camera, no IR emitters, no markers or physical controllers.

You just move your hand in three-dimensional space, and the control data is transmitted to the computer. In fact, it’s one of the more touchless interfaces I’ve seen since the father of them all, the Theremin.

That does appear to be a blanket underneath their hand. Now, being the glutton for punishment I am, I want to figure out a way to do this in which there are sparks.

More on this project as I learn about it, but it looks like it’s got some great potential. The bottom line to me is that there’s every reason to begin interacting with three-dimensional onscreen interfaces using spatial physical interfaces. Joysticks and mice actually do a reasonably good job, but they don’t cover the entire gamut of what’s possible. Now it’s up to the software to start using that control data.