Link: .
http://billbuxton.com/multitouchOverview.html
Multi-Touch
Systems that I Have Known and LovedBill Buxton
Microsoft Research
Original: Jan. 12, 2007
Version: June 7, 2007
Keywords / Search Terms
Multi-touch, multitouch, input, interaction, touch screen, touch tablet, multi-finger input, multi-hand input, bi-manual input, two-handed input, multi-person input, interactive surfaces, soft machine, hand gesture, gesture recognition .
Preamble
Since the announcement of the iPhone, an especially large number of people have asked me about multi-touch. The reason is largely because they know that I have been involved in the topic for a number of years. The problem is, I can't take the time to give a detailed reply to each question. So I have done the next best thing (I hope). That is, start compiling my would-be answer in this document. The assumption is that ultimately it is less work to give one reasonable answer than many unsatisfactory ones.
Multi-touch technologies have a long history. To put it in perspective, the original work undertaken by my team was done in 1984, the same year that the first Macintosh computer was released, and we were not the first. Furthermore, there was a significant body of prior art on which multi-touch was built.
The following is a very brief and incomplete summary of some of the landmark examples that I have been involved with and/or known about and encountered over the years. It is incomplete and a work in progress (so if you come back a second time, chances are there will be more and better information).I apologize to those that I have missed. I have erred on the side of timeliness vs thoroughness. Other work can be found in the references to the papers that I do include.
Please do not be shy in terms of sending me photos, updates, etc. I will do my best to integrate them....
