Touch-based Handhelds Turned Inside Out

holy_calamity writes "Mitsubishi and Microsoft have made a prototype PSP-like handheld operated using a touch interface on the back — the idea is to give a firmer hold, prevent obscuring the screen and allow greater accuracy than the iPhone and others. The users fingers are shown as shadows on the screen so they can see what they're doing, making the device look transparent. As a video shows, it's far from market ready, but the design principle seems sound."

Comments

MS still copying apple

[vlad30]

just not waiting as long

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/05/10/patent-multisided-and-touch-screen-ipod/

and the actual patent

http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20070103454&OS=20070103454&RS=20070103454

Re:MS still copying apple

[MojoStan]

According to Mitsubishi's page on this project:

• "As a two-sided touch screen, the LucidTouch is a direct extension of our two-sided touch table, published previously as Under the Table Interaction (reference below).
  ...[snip]...
  Publications:
  Wigdor, D.; Leigh, D.; Forlines, C.; Shipman, S.; Barnwell, J.; Balakrishnan, R.; Shen, C., "Under the Table Interaction", ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), ISBN: 1-59593-313-1, pp. 259-268, October 2006 (ACM Press, TR2006-076)"

Microsoft's multitouch table (which has been in development for years) was covered on Slashdot. The "under the table" paper was published in October 2006. The Apple patent you linked to has a filing date of January 5, 2007.

So is Apple copying Microsoft? Of course not. A table is not an iPod/phone is not a see-through tablet. As another replier mentioned, there's an obviousness about this "behind the screen" interaction. However, Apple fanboys (I'm not calling you one) like to think everybody's copying Apple.