A tangible user interface (TUI) is a user interface in which a person interacts with digital information through the physical environment. The initial name was Graspable User Interface, which is no longer used. The purpose of TUI development is to empower collaboration, learning, and design by giving physical forms to digital information, thus taking advantage of the human ability to grasp and manipulate physical objects and materials.
The Apple Mouse is a multi-control USB mouse manufactured by Mitsumi Electric and sold by Apple Inc. It was announced and sold for the first time on August 2, 2005, and a Bluetooth version was available from 2006 to 2009. Before the Mighty Mouse, Apple had sold only one-button mice with its computers, beginning with the Apple Lisa 22 years earlier. The Mighty Mouse supported two buttons, and a miniature trackball for scrolling.
In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface to recognize the presence of more than one point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CERN, MIT, University of Toronto, Carnegie Mellon University and Bell Labs in the 1970s. CERN started using multi-touch screens as early as 1976 for the controls of the Super Proton Synchrotron. Capacitive multi-touch displays were popularized by Apple's iPhone in 2007. Plural-point awareness may be used to implement additional functionality, such as pinch to zoom or to activate certain subroutines attached to predefined gestures.
Microsoft PixelSense is an interactive surface computing platform that allows one or more people to use and touch real-world objects, and share digital content at the same time. The PixelSense platform consists of software and hardware products that combine vision based multitouch PC hardware, 360-degree multiuser application design, and Windows software to create a natural user interface (NUI).
Surface computing is the use of a specialized computer GUI in which traditional GUI elements are replaced by intuitive, everyday objects. Instead of a keyboard and mouse, the user interacts with a surface. Typically the surface is a touch-sensitive screen, though other surface types like non-flat three-dimensional objects have been implemented as well. It has been said that this more closely replicates the familiar hands-on experience of everyday object manipulation.
The Nexus One is an Android smartphone designed and manufactured by HTC as Google's first Nexus smartphone. The Nexus became available on January 5, 2010, and features the ability to transcribe voice to text, an additional microphone for dynamic noise suppression, and voice guided turn-by-turn navigation to drivers.
FingerWorks was a gesture recognition company based in the United States, known mainly for its TouchStream multi-touch keyboard. Founded by John Elias and Wayne Westerman of the University of Delaware in 1998, it produced a line of multi-touch products including the iGesture Pad and the TouchStream keyboard, which were particularly helpful for people suffering from RSI and other medical conditions. The keyboards were immediately discontinued when the company's assets were acquired by Apple Inc. in early 2005.
The HTC Dream is a smartphone developed by HTC. First released in September 2008, the Dream was the first commercially released device to use the Linux-based Android operating system, which was purchased and further developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance to create an open competitor to other major smartphone platforms of the time, such as Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and iPhone OS. The operating system offers a customizable graphical user interface, integration with Google services such as Gmail, a notification system that shows a list of recent messages pushed from apps, and Android Market for downloading additional apps.
HP TouchSmart is a series of tablet PC laptops and touchscreen all-in-one desktop computers designed by HP. It features various Intel or AMD processors and runs Windows Vista or Windows 7 as standard.
The Magic Mouse is a multi-touch mouse that is manufactured and sold by Apple. It was first sold on October 20, 2009. The Magic Mouse is the first consumer mouse to have multi-touch capabilities. Taking after the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and multi-touch trackpads, the Magic Mouse allows the use of gestures such as swiping and scrolling across the top surface of the mouse to interact with desktop computers. It connects via Bluetooth and runs on two AA batteries. Apple includes two non-rechargeable batteries in the box. Until 2016, Apple sold a battery charger which could charge two AA batteries, suited for the Magic Mouse. Like its predecessor, the Mighty Mouse, the Magic Mouse is capable of control-clicking without requiring the key combination.
Ideum is a company based in Corrales, New Mexico, United States that produces multitouch tables and walls, custom interactive exhibits, and custom hardware. The company was founded in 1999 by Jim Spadaccini, who created interactive exhibits for San Francisco's Exploratorium before becoming creative director at Ideum. With strong ties to the museum and informal science education fields, many of the company's products and services are targeted at museums and other public spaces. In 2015 and 2016, the company was listed on the Inc. 5000, list of the Fastest Growing Companies in the US. In 2017 and again in 2018, the company was honored as one of the "Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America" by Entrepreneur Magazine.
The Magic Trackpad is a multi-touch trackpad produced by Apple Inc. Announced on July 27, 2010, it was 80% larger than the trackpad found on the then-current MacBook family of laptops.
Microsoft Tablet PC is a term coined by Microsoft for tablet computers conforming to a set of specifications announced in 2001 by Microsoft, for a pen-enabled personal computer, conforming to hardware specifications devised by Microsoft and running a licensed copy of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system or a derivative thereof.
Acer Liquid MT is a smartphone from Acer that runs the Android operating system. After some rumors the smartphone was officially unveiled in October 2010. The smartphone runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) operating system and it is powered by an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor. It has 512 MB of RAM and 512 MB ROM. The device is capable of 4-finger-multitouch input and has integrated GPS too. It has a 5 MP camera.
An active pen is an input device that includes electronic components and allows users to write directly onto the display of a computing device such as a smartphone, tablet computer or Ultrabook. The active pen marketplace has long been dominated by N-trig and Wacom, but newer firms Atmel and Synaptics also offer active pen designs.
The LenovoIdeaPad Flex is a 2-in-1-laptop line by Lenovo. Unlike the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga line of devices, the keyboard does not bend back entirely to allow use as a tablet, it is only a dual-mode laptop. Its keyboard rotates behind the display in order to put the device into "stand mode." Stand mode brings the user closer to the screen for watching videos and using touch-enabled apps and removes the visual distraction from the keyboard.
Lenovo IdeaPhone A820 is a dual-SIM, quad-core MediaTek MT6589 based smartphone belonging to the A series which is an entry-level group of Lenovo mobile communication products. It has been introduced to the market in March 2013.
GestureWorks Gameplay was a utility created by Ideum using its GestureWorks technology to enable a variety of touch and gesture controls for games on Windows 8 devices. The software was discontinued as of June 7, 2016.
The Magic Trackpad 2 is a multi-touch and Force Touch trackpad produced by Apple Inc. Announced on October 13, 2015 alongside the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse 2, the Magic Trackpad 2 is the successor to the first Magic Trackpad.
