Slashdot Mirror
Windows 7 Touchscreen Details Emerging
nandemoari writes "Microsoft has revealed more about Windows 7 and its support for touch screen technology. The system sounds impressive, however, reports suggest it appears to have a high error rate. In an early version of the system, Microsoft found some problems. For example, both the zoom and rotate functions worked less than 75% of the time, often because the computer confused the two. To rectify this, engineers redesigned the system so that it only looks out for gestures specifically relevant to the program being used. This made a significant improvement: the zoom gesture was now recognized 90% of the time.
The problem is that even a 90% success rate may be too low. If you can imagine how frustrating it would be if one in ten keystrokes or mouse movements didn't do what you intended, you can see why touch screen technology will need to be even more reliable if it's to truly improve the user experience. PC Authority has a related story about statements from HP, who don't expect such technology to replace keyboards and mice any time soon."
I'm not convinced that the touch screens can replace a keyboard and mouse on a desktop, or even a laptop, for some time. Text is the big issue, and I can't see myself being able to achieve the same typing speed on a touch screen until there's some really good haptic feedback in place. While handwriting technology could come on leaps and bounds (and has done so), I already type faster than I can write, so this wouldn't be helpful to me. For the mouse there is definitely places where touch would work better, particularly for new users, but the precision of a mouse is better for certain applications (notably gaming) compared to stubby fingers and having them block your view of the screen. Even if Microsoft can get touch working nicely in Windows 7, it's still going to be quite some time until I'll be getting rid of my keyboard and mouse.
Mattb90
Editor, allaboutgames.co.uk
I mean, letting everyone think it was a touch screen, when in reality it uses several cameras down below the glass to track motion
Yeah, it's like letting everyone think your latest electric car has an engine, when in reality it uses short-range teleportation.
I don't think the keyboard+mouse combo needs replacing, for most applications. But I do see immense potential in touch screen tech.
My "dream desk"? A huge normal monitor, a keyboard+mouse combo, and a horisontal touch screen / tablet beside them.
Touch manipulation just makes more sense on a horisontal surface to me. Touch wouln't hurt on vertical monitors, but it's not for continuous work. So give me a solution where I can, say doodle a graphic on my touch screen / tablet, lying on my desk, but don't make me give up my keyboard and mouse or hover my arms in the air for that.
Also, a horisontal touch screen would be an ideal secondary controller for games and stuff... :)
.: Max Romantschuk
A story about touch screens that doesn't say they cure cancer and solve world hunger?
What is this site, and where is the real slashdot?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
At work, my Monitor is at the edge of my desk, my legs are up on the desk, and I'm leaned back as far as my chair goes. I could not reach the touch screen without leaning forward and up, and that would take effort. And I am a lazy-ass critter, why else would I work in that position in the first place?
At home, things are no different, I usually work with my legs up on the sofa, sitting up, but leaned back on the comfy cushions. Again, touch screen out of reach.
So this technology really doesn't interest me.
Well, maybe if the touch screen came will a big, long stylus or I could use a sawed-off cue stick. However, I might get in the habit of whacking the touch screen with the stylus, when I get angry about something on the screen.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
There is a distinction between gesture recognition and direct manipulation. With direct manipulation there is no recognition (using fancy algorithms like used in speech recognition). Succesfull multitouch applications use direct manipulation.
The basic mistake here is that MS is trying to make old programs to work with multitouch gestures. For multitouch the UI of the applicatios needs to be redesigned and reprogrammed. There is no way around that.
Why should this be different from any other Microsoft product?
.o q q o ss uoo nq 'ooz o usno s1qod u buou ou , pu 'ou 7 sopu o q busn ,
You'd think that with that 'big ass table' they've been so proudly parading around they'd have this figured out.
I mean, letting everyone think it was a touch screen, when in reality it uses several cameras down below the glass to track motion - you'd hope they'd get it right when it came to something that actually utilized touch...why are we not surprised to learn they've stuffed this up.
The Microsoft Surface was never billed as a touchscreen. It was meant as a language-less user interface. In that regard it works rather well: even primate peoples who have been shown the device could operate it, moving files, opening photos, and such. It is not a general purpose computer in any sense.
Lock the wife and the dog in the boot of the car.
Return one hour later.
Who's happy to see you?
Sitting here at my desktop, monitor out of arms reach, I can't help but think that Touch is a useless feature. I'm not going to be swayed to Touch as a feature until I can make use of it. Perhaps if I was a notebook user I'd reconsider my enthusiasm. But that said, I think there's a way that they can attract desktop users...
Some company needs to completely replace the 10-key pad on a desktop keyboard with a touch screen. It should be the same size as the 10-key pad or larger, and feature a 10-key on/off switch. In the 'on' mode, you would use it as a normal 10-key. In the 'off' mode, it would give the user a touch device which could manipulate the images on the monitor. The user might see a selection box on-screen targeting the area of the pad that is available. Touch gestures would allow manipulation of the desktop. Of course a mouse would still be used for most point and click interactions. It probably should use OLED for high angle visibility and should have soft ridges for tactile feedback when you enable 10-key.
What do you mean you're with HP? They have a whole campaign devoted to desktop touch screens...
As for most of the other blatantly wrong comments, I think it's incredibly important to develop this. Everyone is only considering touch screens as the main outputs. But what about a dedicated input being a touch screen. Like the Optimus Maximums, but extremely cheaper and more diverse. This one application voids both this post and this post, the two highest rated comments in this thread. There are so many applications to multi-touch technology, and only R&D will get us there.
"even primate peoples who have been shown the device could operate it"
MODERATORS: How can a statement be "informative" if there is no indication of any kind that what is being said can be verified?
Ignoring the bizarre idea of "primate peoples" (WTF??), we need to have a special tag on /. for when this happens:
*** CITATION NEEDED ***
I don't know what's more annoying: making a bald statement without any reference to a source, or you getting modded up to "5 informative" for doing so.
"And the meaning of words; when they cease to function; when will it start worrying you?"
But Microsoft can fix this easily.
When you touch the screen and it's not clear what you want, an animated character can pop up and say "Hi! It looks like you're trying to rotate the screen image!" and coach you on how to bend your fingers into the right position to meet the software's expectations.
To prevent errors, when you're done, a dialog box can pop up saying "Do you really want to rotate the screen image? Allow/deny." Then there will be no errors... or any errors that do occur can be blamed on the user.
And, of course, there can be a Screen Rotation Wizard to give you a simple six-screen walkthrough, and context-sensitive Help available simply by tapping your ring finger in the northeast quadrant of the screen while you're making your gesture.
The Microsoft Way is that the computer should control the user, not the other way around. Once the touchscreen programmers absorb this fundamental principal, all their problems can be easily solved.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Microsoft is trying to implement touch technology across an entire operating system and all its userland components.
Apple has implemented touch technology on a specialized device with specialized hardware made specifically by Apple that, while quite impressive in what functions it can perform, is not even close to the broad range of tasks a fully fledged desktop/laptop computer and associated operating system performs.
Which do you think might be slightly more difficult to implement?
Porn!!!
Yeah, that table was brilliant. Microsoft launches furniture that crashes.
I look forward to Microsoft's vision of the Digital Home. Imagine your television, your refrigerator, your gas boiler, all running Windows Vista^W7. What could possibly go wrong?
http://rocknerd.co.uk
What the hell are "primate peoples"?
I am quite sure that he meant primitive people; basically Window users.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
"even primate peoples who have been shown the device could operate it"
MODERATORS: How can a statement be "informative" if there is no indication of any kind that what is being said can be verified?
Ignoring the bizarre idea of "primate peoples" (WTF??), we need to have a special tag on /. for when this happens:
Well. Actually, the non-human primate, the bonobo, has been filmed playing Pacman (with considerable skill I would say) out of curiosity. This starts from 15:51. Before that, the bonobos do less important things like light fires and such (although they cheat and use a lighter). It's not much of a stretch to imagine them using a touchscreen.
Plus, in these hard economic times it's conceivable that Microsoft just substituted bonobos for testers, due to the fact that bonobos don't require payment for their efforts. And, since I've never seen what goes on in Microsoft research, you've probably never seen what goes on, and neither of us is likely to take the time to find out (this being /.), who's to say they don't use bonobos right now?