Multi-touch X

[bigtomrodney]

Hi guys,
I just came across this over at Phoronix and thought you might all enjoy a look. This might be the next big thing in both desktop "bling" and practical applications for the Linux desktop. What do you guys think?

[Phoronix] Native Multi-Touch Support On Linux

[Rubberman]

The iPhone interface is very, very effective especially for small form-factor systems, though I can think how it would be desirable on larger displays as well. I say, good work! Of course, the main issue is the sensor technology. Perhaps a digital "glove", or some sort of optical sensor that can monitor the air space in front of your display and detect your hand/finger gestures would be suitable, but the questions that arise are:

1. When
2. How much
3. Reliability

[oz]

Here's another interesting video that shows some of the capabilities, although this video isn't necessarily Linux related:

The Multi Touch Screen: Documenting Jeff Han's Multi Touch Technology

... lots of other videos there for those interested.

I think multi-touch has its place in computing, but I'm not sure that it's the future of computing.

[bigtomrodney]

I know that tablet PCs come with touchscreen support and there are a lot of aftermarket touchscreen sensors available. Also, I inadvertently plugged in two mice before and both worked...but controlled the same cursor. I wonder what that'd be like with two cursors! On another similar note I think there's a driver in the kernel now to support Wii-motes as a mouse device. A pair of them and we might be going Minority Report

Seriously though, I'd say this is mostly aimed at tablets, smartphones and tabletop systems. Still nice to see though!