Tag Archive for: software

MulTI-Touch Projected Capacitive Developer Kit

Creating Multi-Touch Experiences with NUITEQ

/in

So with all the multi-touch products out there (and the number seems to be growing exponentially), there appears to be is a multi-touch software shortage, believe it or not. There are very few multi-touch software programs (or developers) out there to assist OEMs with showcasing their multi-touch solutions. Short of creating software from scratch or simply using the Microsoft Surface Touch Pack for Windows 7, OEM’s software options are slim at best.

Enter NUITEQ, a Swedish multi-touch software technology company who provides off the shelf and customized software solutions for interactive multi-touch displays. Its multi-touch software product Snowflake Suite, which is available to SI’s, VAR’s, OEM’s, software developers and end clients, operates on a wide variety of multi-touch hardware technology platforms ranging from camera-based solutions and IR overlay systems to capacitive, resistive and other technologies that are integrated in mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops and large-scale interactive displays.

MulTI-Touch Projected Capacitive Developer Kit

Multi-Touch Developer Kit

Touch International recently partnered with NUITEQ and is running the Snowflake Suite on its MulTI-Touch projected capacitive developer kits, which allows the company to demonstrate its products’ full multi-touch capabilities. The Snowflake interface really gives OEMs an edge because it functions and looks a lot like the iPhone, which of course, is the standard for today’s touch screens.

NUITEQ is quickly becoming a highly recognized company worldwide and has received numerous awards and accolades including Winner of the 2010 Red Herring Global 100 Award and 10th Most Promising Tech Startup in the World by Innovate 2010.

To learn more about NUITEQ, click here.
To learn more about Touch International, click here.

Do I have to use special software to use my touch screen? – Sandy Claws

/in

Dear Sandy:

Wanting to keep things simple, Touch Guy’s answer is “No and Maybe” (this is my new alternate answer to the usual, ‘It depends’). For those of you using a USB-connected system, the touch screen will look like a mouse to your software and because virtually all software works with a mouse, nothing is required. For Windows 7, the touch screen will look like a digitizer or several digitizers to accommodate multi-touch (one for each touch occurring at the same time) and nothing new is required to do all of the cool gestures like pinch, rotate and shrink. Similar multi-touch support is available for Linux operating systems and some versions of CE (though XP embedded comes with fewer headaches). The technical term for this magic is HID Compliant (HID=Human Interface Device) or in the case of Win7, Windows 7 Tablet Compliant. All of Touch International’s USB projected capacitive systems are compliant and will work without having to do anything extra.

The “Maybe” answer comes in to play when systems still run on serial (RS232) connections which require a driver to allow the touch screen to communicate with the software. A touch screen generates an X and Y coordinate (and in some cases a Z). The driver looks at the touch coordinate and then looks at the “hot spot” or the place where the mouse cursor was left on the screen. Next the driver moves the mouse cursor with up/down and right/left “mickeys” to the location of the touch and issues a mouse click. And Jiminy Christmas, the touch works with any software! Touch drivers also allow you to control other things such as calibrating the touch screen to different size displays, controlling how hard or light you have to touch the screen, enabling right button clicks and eliminating the mouse cursor from the screen.

Happy Holidays and remember… my touch screens make great gifts!!

Until next time,
Touch Guy