Sweden's Norrköping Visualization Center, in collaboration with the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, has developed a virtual autopsy system to substitute some of the manual work for touch manipulation on a flatscreen. A body under investigation is first scanned through a CT or MRI and the results of that can be manipulated using software that can filter images based on tissue density, luminance, and other criteria.
Here's a couple videos demonstrating the Virtual Autopsy Table:
The Apple's Magic Mouse doesn't have anything on its surface. It's an aluminum base topped off with a smooth multitouch panel. It felt weird to use, but leagues ahead of the Mighty Mouse. I may go back to mice. The strange thing about the Magic Mouse is not how it works. It is that you have different gestures than on a standard Macbook Pro trackpad. One obvious example: Since you move the cursor by moving the whole mouse with your hand, there's no point in also using one finger to move the cursor, like on the trackpad. Moving your finger on the surface of the Magic Mouse allows you to scroll in all directions, 360 degrees around. You can also scroll with two or three fingers, if you move them up and down. But if you swipe them from side to side while using a web browser, your browsing history moves forward or back. Physically, the mouse is beautiful, and feels nice. The top is made of white polycarbonate that matches the keys on Apple's keyboards. It is one seamless touch surface, and, logically, there is no Mighty Mouse scroll nipple. The surface can also simulate the left and right buttons. Unlike in previous Apple's mice, the two buttons work perfectly. This time they also added physical feedback, so when you click the buttons, you actually get the entire surface to click—like the original clear Apple mouse. The mouse runs on AA batteries, and Apple claims 4 months of use per set. You can get it with the new iMac or pay $69 separately. There was a small thing I noticed, though: the mouse would sometimes move when I tried to scroll — I can maybe get used to this, but it was a thing that happened to me and my presenter who definitely had more time with the mouse. The other reason why Apple went with fewer fingers for swipe and scroll gestures, besides the issue of pointing already being taken care of by the mouse's table action, was because you need your ring finger to hold the mouse properly or the thing slides on your desk. Also, the mouse will be software configurable for lefties.
Apple Introduces Magic Mouse — The World's First Multi-Touch Mouse CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch™ technology. Pioneered on iPhone®, iPod touch® and Mac® notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface. Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac® and will be available as a Mac accessory at just $69. 'Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads,' said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. 'Apple's Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design.' Magic Mouse features a seamless touch-sensitive enclosure that allows it to be a single or multi-button mouse with advanced gesture support. Using intuitive gestures, users can easily scroll through long documents, pan across large images or swipe to move forward or backward through a collection of web pages or photos. Magic Mouse works for left or right handed users and multi-button or gesture commands can be easily configured from within System Preferences. The Magic Mouse laser tracking engine provides a smooth, consistent experience across more surfaces than a traditional optical tracking system. Magic Mouse uses Bluetooth wireless capabilities to create a clean, cable-free desk top and its secure wireless connection works from up to 10 meters away. To extend battery performance, Magic Mouse includes an advanced power management system that works with Mac OS® X to automatically switch to low power modes during periods of inactivity. The wireless Magic Mouse is powered by two AA batteries which are included. Pricing & Availability Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and is available at the end of October through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $69 (US). Magic Mouse requires Mac OS X Leopard® version 10.5.8 or later.
User interface designer R. Clayton Miller thinks the mouse and the windows-based desktop metaphor should die. It's just too confusing. However, he also argues that multitouch displays are not the answer. Looking at his solution, he may be right.
This video examines the benefits and limitations inherent in current mouse-based and window-oriented interfaces, the problems facing other potential solutions, and visualizes my proposal for a completely new way of interacting with desktop computers.
I recommend you watch the whole thing, because he makes some very good usability points—discussing the pros and cons of different UI approaches—before getting into his proposal—which looks beautiful and, more importantly, useful. I like a lot of the things I see here. I like the way the applications are organized and accessed, combined a modal approach with a stream. I love how he solved the general menu vs application menu dilemma. What I don't like is the idea of having a control surface below the keyboard. I guess we are all used to it, through laptops and trackpads. And he is right that it may be a great way to transition to touch-interfaces for most users—because of that familiarity. However, I would like to see this implemented in a different form factor Both on the go—in the tablet—and in the desktop—in whatever new format the hardware manufacturers can come up with. [Gizmodo via 10/GUI via Unplggd]
Barnes and Noble's late to e-books. But the company's new gadget—first seen here—should address the weaknesses of all other readers with multiple screens, each playing to tech strengths. A source from within reveals the first photos and details. The Barnes and Nobles e-reader project, set to berevealed next week, has been under development for years, with several devices of varying size and capability in the pipeline. First rumors said it would have a color e-ink screen. Then people said it didn't. They were both kind of right: The layout will feature a black and white e-ink screen like the Kindle has—and a multitouch display like an iPhone underneath. Pow! More details and photos of the Barnes and Noble E-Ink/LCD reader here:
What's interesting is that B&N will sell the books it also publishes (yes, remember, they are also a publisher and not just a store) at a deep discount compared to print editions. And the device will have some sort of access to all books scanned by the Google Books project; probably books that are out of print. The name of the gadget, which I cannot reveal and may have changed anyhow, is freaking terrible. I hope they change it before it ships. [Gizmodo]
The other day, I went on a short tour of some of Microsoft’s Labs, where they do everything from rapid prototypes of new products to acoustic testing in anechoic chambers. Most of my time was spent in the Applied Sciences group’s labs, where they are working on some seriously interesting devices. And they’re not just into mice; in fact, the lab’s specialty seemed to be anything to do with optics and/or input. This lab worked on Project Natal, and also on the pressure-sensitive keyboard I wrote about a while back. They were kind enough to show me all these crazy multi-touch mice, and, when I was too inept to demo even one of them solo, offered to go through them with me on video. Remember that none of these devices are final in any way! The side mouse, for instance, would be much smaller if it were a product, and these weren’t really sculpted at all to fit in your hand. Let’s just go through them again in text form so you know what you saw. Click the legend here to embiggen. The Cap mouse is the one I picked as the most ready for deployment. The curved capacitive sensor that makes up the “head” of the mouse is known technology despite being one of the only curved sensors out there, and the form factor of the mouse will be familiar to anyone. The Side mouse is perhaps the most unorthodox of all the mice shown. It throws out a swath of IR light and watches what it hits; it sounds strange but watching video of the sensor’s view, you can tell that it’s a perfectly good way of telling depth and so on. I personally thought this would do better at the top of a mousepad, to be activated at will while you have a normal mouse for everyday stuff. Here’s that video:
Frustrated Total Internal Reflection, or FTIR, isn’t a catchy name for a mouse, but as a technology it’s quite interesting. The arched acrylic sheet you see has IR LEDs shining light into it at all times. It’ll travel along the sheet and dissipate harmlessly, but if you touch the sheet anywhere, it’ll reflect off your finger and be picked up by the camera that’s underneath. It’s extremely high-resolution and can detect the tiniest movements. This one retained the mouse shape almost as well as the Cap mouse. As he notes, it does remind one of the Arc mouse, which I liked a lot. One I thought might come out as a completely different product was the Orb mouse. Like the FTIR mouse, it has a camera, but this camera is pointed at a chrome dome that allows it to see every part of the frosted orb. This means it can detect touches anywhere on the thing’s surface. It works as well as you’d expect, but what set me off was the idea that you could actually have a little projector in there that could rear-project images and controls onto the frosted surface of the orb. It’s a bit like the way the Surface display works. I mentioned this and they implied that they were “aware of the possibilities” (I think I hit something good). Lastly, you have the Arty mouse, short for articulated. This thing is like a cross between a regular mouse and the Novint Falcon. Its little limbs are for resting your thumb and forefinger on, and each is equipped with an optical mouse sensor. It’s like a regular mouse with arms, and it’s a bit disturbing to use. But it is cool — I can see this kind of thing being used for perhaps 3D model editing, but it seemed foreign and fragile, not very easy to sell. Does it matter? Multi-touch mice, eh? With laptops ascendant, touchscreens multiplying, and stuff like Natal on the horizon, isn’t it barking up the wrong tree to be putting this stuff on a mouse? A little bit, but not entirely. The mouse is still the standard interface for probably 90% of computers out there, and if they can improve it, they can both extend the life of the decades-old device and introduce multi-touch controls softly into both the OS and the user’s mind. If Microsoft can make a device that is as easy to use as a normal mouse, but with the added benefit of multi-touch (I see the Cap mouse doing this in the shortest time), people will eat it up, provided it’s not too expensive. At any rate, it’s projects like this that push the boundaries of input technology. If multi-touch mice aren’t be a hit, there were advances made and experiments done that will enable or ease other advanced input techniques. Regular readers will know that the demonstration of these mice follows closely on the rumor that Apple is creating a new Mighty Mouse, perhaps to be multi-touch as well. That’s all well and good, but there are two reasons why that really doesn’t matter. First, Apple has never made a good mouse. Never. Every mouse they’ve ever made has been bad, from the puck mouse to the clear “pro” mouse to the Mighty Mouse, they’re awful one and all. So I don’t think these guys, who could design a better mouse than Apple in their sleep, are worried about that. Secondly, Microsoft sells mice to Windows users primarily. The software and optimizations are for Windows 7 with its touch support built-in. The Mac mouse market isn’t big enough or important enough to worry about. Thanks to the Applied Science teams for letting me into their lair. The mice are all very interesting devices, and it’s fun to see them in their larval forms. There’s more video and documentation of the mice and project here if you’re interested. [CrunchGear]
For all its new multi-touch goodness, Windows 7 only has about 7 basic gestures. So if you're all about the touch (and say, have a tablet PC) BumpTop's stack of unique new gestures could be a very good thing. As we've mentioned in the past, BumpTop isn't a new OS or shell replacement, it just adds a 3D workspace to your desktop. The $30 mulit-touch version of the software is available now, but you'll need to have Windows 7 (and a multi-touch tablet, laptop or all-in-one PC). The good news: we're going to see a bunch of those arrive alongside the new OS on October 22.
