First steps with Multitouch

I’ve been researching Multitouch for the last month or so over at the NUI Group website. There is a wealth of information on how to build multitouch tables using several different approaches all of which are fully documented on the forum and wiki. In addition to this there are open source frameworks, libraries and demo applications. Using all this information and free software, a fully functioning multitouch table can be assembled for less than a grand.

Before committing to full table, I decided to build a very basic version by following this superb tutorial:

Using only a webcam, a cardboard box, some tracing paper and a picture frame, I cobbled something together in about 10 minutes.

In terms of software, I decided to use tbeta A.K.A. CCV (Community Core Vision). This picks up and analyses the shadows on the diffused surface using blob detection. These results are broadcasted using the TUIC protocol and can be translated by platforms such as Flash, Processing, openFrameworks, C++, C#, Java etc. I was suprised how simple it was to set up. Within 30 minutes I dragging/resizing pictures, finger painting and all sorts using the demos.

So, time to start creating a few toys then.

*** UPDATE ***

Just to absolutely clear, I did not create this tutorial. It was by a very talented guy called Seth Sandler. I wish I had. The guy’s had over 1.3 million hits on YouTube.

AR Business card

Inspired by this guy, I just got a fresh batch of business cards from moo.com. There’s not really enough space on a business card to explain yourself in any detail so I thought I’d extend it using augmented reality. I recorded a short video bio and created a 3D grid of coloured planes. These planes are updated with the colours from the video and extruded depending on the level of brightness.

***EDIT***

This is now online for all to enjoy. First print out this (or open it on you’re phone). Then go here to play with it.

***EDIT 2***

Mac users with iSight camera who are experiencing a black screen might be able to get around this by Following these steps:

Right click on the app and select settings. Then click on the camera tab. There should be a drop-down menu. Select USB Camera.

Failing that apparantly it won’t work if you have any other apps that use the iSight open at the same time, so close PhotoBooth, Quicktime etc.

Thanks to JereDog and Bish for these workarounds.

***EDIT 3***

I’m using the following AS3 libraries in this project

FLARToolkit

FLARManager

Papervision The new version now uses the FP10 native 3D capabilities

TweenMax

***EDIT 4***

I’ve temporarily had to take the application down as I’ve had a huge amount of traffic which will undoubtedly cost a horrendous amount of money. Check back next week when things have calmed down a bit.

***EDIT 5***

OK the application is back up now. Big thanks to my agency Skive who are hosting it until the madness subsides.

***EDIT 6***

I’ve made quite a few changes to the applciation recently. The main change is that it no longer uses Papervision but is now run using the new Flash Player 10 3D capabilities. This has sped things up slightly. The app is now built using the PureMVC framework. There are also many optimisations and tweaks to make the app behave faster and better. If you click the link above it will now open the new version.