Our interaction with devices has come a long way from the cumbersome, untidy, complex interfaces of yore. These days, you expect a device to be simple to operate, and though all interfaces aim at establishing simplified communication between human and device, the most intriguing one remains touch. You don't need to learn how to use touch, it comes naturally.

Touch as a technology first came into existence in 1971, with the birth of touch sensors. Soon after the development of touch sensors, we had touch screens-a transparent surface acting as an interface between devices and external users. Touch screens allowed users to access a device by touching the icons on screen. These icons replaced the original physical machines and allowed the same screen to be used for both input as well as output. Suddenly, a user had the options to pack off their keyboards, joysticks and all other peripheral input devices.

Nowadays, many gadgets that we use have touch screens. This is not just limited to mobile phones and PDAs, but also watches, touch screen PCs and tablet PCs. Palm Pilot, Tissot T- Touch, and Wacom tablet are a few well known products. We also have handheld gaming consoles like the Nintendo DS which use a touch screen as an input method.

The Touch Wave
With all the developments going on in this field, the concept of single touch has graduated to multi-touch. Multi-touch technology allows the registration of multiple tracking points rather than just one. So, for instance, several people could use the same device at once. Or multiple fingers could be used to perform more complicated input actions.

Apple's iPhone (reviewed in Nov 2007, Pg 66) is one of the most heard of and successfully deployed devices harnessing multi-touch technology and we've recently also seen the Apple MacBook Air; the first laptop computer to incorporate a multi-touch track pad.

With Fentix cube, a new games platform is on its way, which can implement various multi-dimensional games, puzzles, and lighting effects with the swipe of your fingers on the touchscreens of the cube

Another successful application is Microsoft's Surface computing that revolutionized the way multi-touch technology is being used. Developed by Jeff Han (in 2006), Surface is an interactive table surface-30 inches wide, which uses multi touch technology and enables several devices to interact and transfer data without any physical connection. No need to connect your device to PC, no wires or adapters required (for more details, see www.microsoft.com/ surface/ or refer to page 87, LD July 2007).

But is touch actually better than the existing button interfaces? There may be a slight aversion to change, but that is only for a generation brought up on physical input methods. Newer generations may never have to read a manual or take classes to learn how to operate a PC. While ease of usage, easy navigation, style quotient, portability & form factor are evident reasons that make touch based interfaces better; there are still certain reasons which force you to rethink. For instance, rigidity and robustness is something that touchscreens are still struggling for. In fact, people do miss that instinctive feel or some sort of feedback which tells them that they have actually pressed a button on the device. Now blame it on human psychology or whatever but this is true.

Plus, in certain cases you have to struggle with the amount of pressure that you must exert, or the area that is assigned to two consecutive buttons placed on the screen of your device may be too close which sometime leads to confusion and further problems. But considering the number of benefits one can just forget about one or two minor glitches. Isn't it?

 future of touch?

With this concept phone, intuitive touch control has replaced all buttons

Touch is here to stay; we needn't say that-of course it is. But will this shift possibly lead to the extinction of traditional input devices?

Well, it depends on the user's perspective. The graphical user interface (GUI) changed the way computers were used, and though there are still many takers for command-line based interfaces, they are now largely obsolete.

Look at the Nokia Aeon, a concept phone that combines two touch-sensitive panels mounted on a fuel-cell power pack. With a single touch on its screen, you can instantly flip to any of the modes: dialing mode, messaging or the media player mode. When will something like this become a reality is not known, but wouldn't you love to own one? I know I would, especially after seeing the concept mock-ups.

Then there is even a touch screen cubic platform on its way-developed by Andrew Fentem. Fentix cube is one of his creations and its videos are available on youtube. This cube basically comprises of an array of LEDs, sensors and accelerometers. According to Fentem, the way you understand the world as a young child is through physical and spatial awareness, up or down. It is how you learn and communicate. Speculations about a cube computer are also there, but no concrete development in this field is reported yet.

Touch has already carved a niche for itself and will certainly combine functionality, usability, and convenience to a degree never before possible. In the future, you may even be able to touch and feel the warmth of your beloved's touch over the Internet! Or maybe you can just reach the place you want to go just by touching the place on the surface of a globe!

While all this may sound like fantasy today, but as science says that nothing is impossible-'touch and go' might be the future.

Richa Sharma