3pointD.com

I want this, even though the post I’m about to link is two weeks old. The HipTech blog reports on the MERL DiamondTouch Table, a flat, interactive panel that not only displays screen images but takes input via touch and gesture — including from more than one user at a time. There’s a video of people scribbling on screens and resizing windows at the MERL site, but far better is the YouTube video linked by HipTech, which shows someone playing the real-time strategy game Warcraft III by using a DiamondTouch table and some voice-recognition software. (Via Brad King.)

What’s so 3pointD about playing a video game using touch and voice? Everything.

It’s not the application that’s important here, it’s the input stream. Gesture and voice are analog inputs, unlike discrete keypresses or mouseclicks. That means two things: (a) they’ll eventually be able to afford us far more expression over the Internet than is currently possible, and (b) people will find new uses for these kinds of inputs that we can’t even begin to imagine at the moment. It also brings the user that much closer to the data he or she is manipulating, which should have a significant impact in itself.

I’d love to see someone bring this kind of technology into Second Life, just to find out what people would do with it. Mapping apps, as well, could get very interesting with this. The DiamondTouch device is apparently currently available, though you have to email DiamondTouch [AT] merl [DOT] com for pricing information. But the PDF describing the product mentions that a developers’ kit is available. I wonder whether anyone’s already experimenting with this.