Over the past 10 years, multi-touch technology has rapidly evolved and has been implemented on many devices, programs and hardware. In the years to come, this technology will be used even more often and will soon become part of people’s daily lives, allowing them to easily interact with a computer screen or device using only their fingers.
Even if the future of multi-touch technology is the most important aspect that scientists should focus on, it is better to take the path of memory every now and then and assess its evolution.
When did multi-touch technology appear?
The origin of multi-touch technology takes us back to 1982, when Nimish Mehta of the University of Toronto first developed a finger pressure display using this technology. 1982 was an important year in multi-touch history as, following the discovery of Nimish Mehta, other engineering companies such as Bell Labs became involved in the development of the technology.
Thus, in 1983, there were many discussions about multi-touch screens and this revolutionary new technology that led to the development of a touch screen that changed images using more than one hand. Over time, Bell Labs chose to focus more on software development than hardware, and have had considerable success in the field of multi-touch technology.
Until the 20th century, multi-touch technology was not so popular due to the lack of breakthroughs in this field. However, the success, popularity and use of this technology began to change with Pierre Wellner’s breakthrough in 1991. In his article “Digital Desk” Pierre Wellner presented the advantages and mechanism of multi-touch technology, supporting the idea – using a finger.
Moreover, beginning in 2001, all of these articles and inventions have been further analyzed, improved, expanded and developed in modern multi-touch devices, software and hardware. The main player in the multi-touch technology market was Apple, which introduced the iPhone in 2007. This product has led to an increase in the popularity and use of this technology as more personalized, robust and gesture based devices have since been developed.
In other words, even though the roots of multi-touch technology are from 1982, the real development of multi-touch solutions as we see today is related to discoveries made from 2007 and beyond.
Finally, the future of multi-touch technology seems bright as more and more solutions are developed every day and implemented in all kinds of businesses and activities, such as medicine, banking and most importantly – in the field of engineering.
Much work has been done on solutions in the last two years, both as hardware, software and hardware. Whether we are thinking of multi-touch tables, multi-touch phones or multi-touch displays, this technology definitely represents an area of expertise that still has a lot to reveal.
Source by Eric Palto
