With this nifty Smart Pad peripheral from Speed, you can add not only an external numeric keypad to your laptop or desktop, but one that works as a true multitouch input device. The compact Smart Pad plugs into any available USB port, and ships with software which lets you start using multitouch gestures to control window movement, mouse buttons, image zooming, scrolling, and other interactions with your computer. The touchpad can support 1, 2 and 3-finger gestures, many of which work with all programs.

There are also a number of specialized gestures that work with popular programs like the MS Office suite and Adobe Acrobat. No word on whether or  not there’s any multitouch drawing apps that’ll work with the Smart Pad, but I’m hoping that somebody will hack one together since the hardware could certainly support it.

Just keep in mind that these early drivers pictured below are in Korean, but I’m hopeful the final version ships with English software.

The Smart Pad’s specs say it works with Windows XP/Vista, though, so I’m not sure if there are any compatibility issues with Windows 7, which has native multitouch support. The device ships this November and is available for pre-order over at Brando for $40 (USD).

As you can see, SixthSense is made up of a camera that tracks the color-marked fingers, and a projector to display whatever relevant information the system digs up. What’s not in the picture is of course the computer itself, in this case a “mobile computing device” installed with software that analyzes the gestures and the objects captured by the camera, so that it can respond and provide the appropriate information. What sort of information? Let’s start with a little trick: if Mistry traces a small circle on his wrist using his index finger, SixthSense will project a watch onto his wrist:

There are many other gestures that the system recognizes – drawing a magnifying glass projects a map application, while drawing the ‘@’ symbol lets the user check his/her email. SixthSense can also interact with everyday objects, like in the image below where it reveals that the flight which the user has a ticket to is delayed.

And here we see SixthSense providing Amazon’s rating for a book on the book’s cover itself:

SixthSense can also pull up video from the internet:

That right there is so awesome. SO AWESOME. As you can see, SixthSense is like a portable, more intuitive, multi-touch version of Google. As Pranav Mistry says on his website: “SixthSense frees information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.”

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And the best part? All this automagical stuff we’ve seen was achieved on a prototype that costs only $350 USD to build. There are netbooks that are more expensive than this system. If SixthSense becomes mass-produced or integrated into computing devices, I’d imagine prices will only go south of that figure. SixthSense really has the potential to make digital information as accessible as possible, the same way that cellular phones made communication instant and affordable.

[via Pop Sci]

Designed by Nicholas G Panas of play /, LEGO-touch will let you build virtual LEGO creations using a large catalog of basic building blocks. Using the iPhone’s multi-touch display, you can easily grab blocks and assemble them into just about any shape you can imagine. A slick user interface lets you easily zoom in and rotate your designs, and easily apply any color in the spectrum to each of your blocks.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In addition to the basic block construction kit, Nicholas’ concept will let share your designs over the Internet. You can even create your own Mii-like avatar using those familiar LEGO block people. One of my favorite features is the ability to challenge your online friends to a LEGO “build-off”.

While you don’t get the tactile experience of holding real LEGO blocks in your hands, you do get the advantage of being able to carry all your creations in your pocket wherever you go. Plus, you never have to worry about running out of blocks.

play/ is currently working to launch the LEGO-touch concept into software production. Be sure to head on over to their website to check out their high quality Flash-based demonstration.

[via PSFK]

iPhone developer Mister Aardvark has just released iAno, a true multi-touch piano simulator for the iPhone.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The simulator offers a complete four-octave keyboard (you jump around the keyboard using the arrows at the top of the screen), with polyphonic sound allowing up to five keys to be played simultaneously. its loaded with real piano samples, making it sound just like the real deal.

Aardvark plans on adding additional features such as a complete 88-key keyboard, switchable sample sets, recording and playback, as well as support for loading .MID tracks and playing them back.

[Installing iAno via QJ.NET]

The design features a mouse with a sensing surface that can be programmed to interact with objects and shapes on screen in a similar way to multi-touch screens that we’ve seen (and experienced – thanks iPhone!)

Apple’s mouse concept uses a backlit transparent shell and a tiny camera with a super wide-angle lens on the inside to record the position of fingers on the surface. Then, a digital signal processor would correct the image distortion from the curved shell and an image processing application would convert that data into information for the computer to use.

If this device ever does make it to market, it shakes up the whole notion of multi-touch. It could add multi-touch to any computer, rather than for the elite few who can afford a fancy system with it incorporated into the display. As an added bonus, this approach would alleviate some the the challenges of display-based multi-touch (i.e. finger smudges, difficulty with precise pointing, getting used to a touch surface instead of a mouse, etc.)

[via PC Joint via Engadget]

By hacking some infrared sensors through the back of a standard laptop display, they’re able to track the locations and pressure from multiple finger locations. As an added benefit of the infrared technology, the interface can also be manipulated with a simple remote control pointed at the display.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

A gesture-based user interface application then allows for manipulation of objects much in the same way that we saw with Surface and on Apple’s upcoming iPhone.

Each time I see another one of these tech demos, it becomes clearer to me that multi-touch interfaces have the potential to replace (or at least significantly augment) the decades-old mouse as our means of interacting with computers.

[via 10]

The 16 x 8-foot interactive display allowed multiple visitors to simultaneously control audio, video, photos and other multimedia content using their hands to navigate.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The installation was put together by Obscura Digital and commissioned by HP as part of an advertising campaign for the event.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

GUI Wiz Darren David was responsible for putting together the user interface using Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF.) According to David, the entire project was designed, developed an built in just four weeks.

[via Fresh Creation]

We’ve seen earlier research prototypes of this technology under the moniker PlayAnywhere, but now Microsoft is commercializing it. The initial Surface system looks like a table with 30-inch flat panel monitor embedded beneath the tabletop.

Like Apple’s iPhone, Surface supports multi-touch, meaning it can detect touch in multiple locations on the display, providing the ability to “grab” and manipulate objects on the screen. The system can also accept simultaneous input from multiple users, making it perfect for gaming and other entertainment uses. In addition, it can interact with objects placed on the surface for everything from augmented reality applications to detecting when a media player is placed on the surface so it can begin transferring digital content via a wireless connection.

Surface runs on the Windows Vista platform, but has specialized software which provides the touch and gesture interface. With the initial units costing around $10k each, Microsoft sees the initial applications for surface being in bars, restaurants, casinos, hotels and other locations where users might interact with menus, maps, games or other information without need for a mouse, keyboard or other control device. They expect to ship the first devices later this year.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via VideoSift]

Technical Overview from Microsoft Research (PDF)