VDM Verlag Exploring multi-touch interaction: An overview of the history, HCI issues and sensor technology of multi-touch appliances

The work establishes a departure point for HCI researchers to explore the rich opportunities offered by multi-touch interaction. The viability of multi-touch interaction as a technique in HCI is outlined by discussing the role of touch surfaces from the perspective of current trends in HCI such as experiential design and user-centric approaches, as well as by drawing a link to established theoretical frameworks such as activity theory. A summary of the state of the art of multi-touch research is presented with a focus both on aspects of hardware sensor and software technology as well as proposed interaction paradigms and metaphors. In order to enable the exploration of multi-touch interaction on large surfaces and screens, simple camera-based hardware setups suitable for assembly without a technological background are presented with the goal of providing designers with a prototyping platform for their endeavors. Finally, Touché is introduced, a vision-based tracking application for use in conjunction with the aforementioned self-assembled hardware, providing designers with both hardware and software technologies to explore multi-touch interaction on affordable setups.