Multi-Touch by N-Trig on Windows 7 – Not so impressive… Yet.
Funny scenario… pre-beta N-Trig Multi-Touch drivers on pre-beta Windows 7… I suppose you can’t expect much. Or should you?
I was watching this demo video by Gotta Be Mobile’s author Rob Bushway the other day, where he was testing the Multi-Touch software for Windows 7, and it’s looking… well, far from usable.
But like I said, it’s all pre-beta on pre-beta, and it’s likely to improve drastically before either is released as a final product. It’s cool to see the Windows environment with the Multi-Touch screen, and I agree with Matt Burns that it does look good. But I’m not impressed. It looks incredibly “jerky” as Rob Bushway says in his article. But let’s be patient shall we?
To be honest, I did expect a better performance from a public beta release. I suppose one could argue that it’s the best way to get lots of feedback, but how do you think the feedback would sound on a beta release like this? I’m still hopeful though, and I’m sure like I said, improvements will be made.
But how funny is this guy? He shows us just how “jerky” it is, and sums it up pretty well… Although, I’d have to say that “the fruit” looks far juicier than the software in question.
If you’re running Windows 7 on a Dell Latitude XT, you can download the drivers at N-Trig.com and give it a spin. Please note the spec requirements “DuoSense technology enabled and the Windows 7 pre-beta version installed on your Dell Latitude XT“
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JP
December 4th 2008
Microsoft hopefully realises that beyond the initial novelty factor, business and other power users will be persuaded to adopt the MultiTouch paradigm for desktops and laptops only if it is comprehensively more efficient & ergonomic than using a mouse or conventional touchpad. Hotkeys reduce some of the inefficiency of alternation between keyboard and mouse but the current cursor-menu option-click paradigm requires laptop touchpads significant finger motion & precision.
Surfing the net, I noticed that FingerWorks has created both the hardware & software that maximises MultiTouch to truly revolutionise the user interface. Their touchpad-based systems’ ergonomic sophistication dispense with the need for either mouse or touchscreen, and should minimise the incidences of both repetitive strain injury & complaints of smudged screens.
Ideally, Windows 7 should have a sufficiently varied repertoire of MultiTouch gestures to enable the user to perform most tasks within each programme in Microsoft Office that currently require accurately moving the cursor across screens & zigzagging into specific submenus. In Microsoft Word and Excel, for example, file, edit, formatting, view and data tasks should have gestures that obviate the need to use a mouse. Note that FingerWorks offered products that would even allow the user to configure their own gesture-based Macros! Further, hardware manufacturers should consider facilities to allow MultiTouch gestures based on TouchPads (with appropriate controls to suppress input from inadvertent touches during typing), or else there will be cases of arm strain from touchScreen use!
At the minimum, WIndows 7 will hopefully provide a touchScreen interface that overcomes the human finger’s inherent inaccuracy. IMHO, this could be either 1) automagnification of any area of the screen that is touched, akin to the way the Mac OS X Dock responds to a cursor, or 2) a “fingercot” which graphically translates touch into a contextually intelligent cursor and allows at least 3 multitouch gestures representing left-, right- and double-clicking.