News Start-up promises complete touch control

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/04/29/start-up-promises-complete-touch-control/1

Paris-based Sensitive Object has announced a new multitouch technology which allows for any and all device surfaces to be used as input.

 

If the whole device is touch sensetive, how do you hold it?

 

I'd love a 7" touchscreen brick for doing some digital painting while away from my desktop. maybe something with photoshop and corel painter support as main functions with an OS built around that sort of thing.
I loved the DS app colors!, but with a max size of 512×384px, it was a little small for my tastes (and lacked an undo button which was a real killer) ( I did this on my DS as a little experiment with it)

Something like this multitouch panel stuff would be perfect for a low cost digital art pad.

 

i can see this replacing physical buttons, so only certain regions actually trigger any behavior, think iPhone, but without any of the physical buttons, you just touch a marked patch on the case.

Combine this with induction charging and you can have a truly waterproof device with no casing breaches or rubber covered buttons that wear out with use.

 

This is rubbish, it'll never work.

 

Why not, Jamie?

After I saw the 19" touchscreen here on the forum I really want one and this technology is another step in the right direction, I think.

 

Anything is possible and this is one of those things.

I would like to see some R&D go into user interfaces that are more human-centric, getting away from the 2d paradigm, this is a step in that direction.

I approve.

S*D

 

touch can never replace buttons. i say this from experience:
-my iPhone capacitive touch is good, but you have to constantly LOOK at it to use it.
-my Samsung T240 has capacitive touch ON/Off button, it sucks big time, finger prints all over it, when i try to rich over from bed at night, can never get the right place.
-my friend's Mighty Mouse where left/right identification is done by which finger is touching which part of mouse. it simply not work during gaming.

on small netbooks such as that tiny Sony one, it makes sense. but for desktop PC's, clicky mouse and real buttons are still the best solution. (especially for on/off buttons)

edit: sorry, mighty mouse don't work was what i was saying. forgot the not

 

Mostly agree there. I do think it is the way for mobile devices though and would make them much more robust physically.

Disagree on the apple mighty mouse. Purely because apple have never ever made a good light based (IR/Laser etc) sensor mouse. They jump all over the place, the side buttons on the mighty mouse are designed to frustrate and by default the 'right click' is turned off. The amount of apple users I have had to explain how they have had a two button mouse for a while is astonishing, probalby over 80%. Mind you, they have normally replaced it with a logitech or MS one by then.

 

stroke it

 

LOL, that was an amazing comment.

 

Just what I was thinking lol. The only thing I could think of this being used effectively on would be if you had a small device, anything from a digital TV remote to an Ipod or phone, when you picked it up it turned on and/or comes out of sleep/lock mode. Somebody will think of a neat way to use this tech.