it and we may showcase your project.
Multitouch, Multiuser Animal Comparison Tool
The challenge here was to create an exhibit that allows visitors to learn more about these diverse animals in a cooperative and interactive way. Rather than develop separate kiosk exhibits for each group of animals, Ideum worked with the Imaginarium and Ansel Associates to create a collaborative comparison tool that lets visitors explore the similarities and differences between animals. Visitors can compare a variety of traits, everything from diet and lifespan to size and weight to exhibited behaviors and more.
Visitors can drop images of various animals into an interactive “comparison wheel” to see how any two animals compare. The comparison wheel, along with the images, can be rotated 360 degrees, making the exhibit completely omni-directional. Up to four people can interact on the multitouch table simultaneously. The application uses an XML structure which allows all the content details to remain external to the application and thus easily changed.
Cultural Organization Discovery Map
Los Angeles is a gigantic, sprawling city. Just trying to find your way across town can make you feel a little desperate. We used our MT-50 multitouch table to help visitors from across the country get a sense of the cultural landscape of L.A.
Creating an interactive map was a big project, so initially we had to tuck project hours in around the edges of other work. We didn’t exactly know how to build for a multiuser multitouch environment, either, but we wanted to develop the skills in-house, so we could create bigger and more provocative things on the table later.
We ended up following a quasi-agile model for development. This meant keeping the project fairly narrow in scope and building iteratively. We set a few simple requirements up front, tried to see if we could build to them, added design refinements and real content if things were jelling, and agreed to be totally willing to jettison requirements if what we had for a component wasn’t working.
The table and SDK are quite amazing. For our first exhibit, we’re using it to provide visiting information about neighboring institutions, and to present some media about the Getty—user-generated images from Flickr, slideshows of images of objects from our collection, and video that gives a taste of our multi-faceted organization. The touchable, zoomable map can be navigated in two ways: by choosing a museum on the map itself, or by selecting a name from the flyout list in the controller. The footer rail offers a news feed of upcoming events at the Getty.
Visitors interacting with The Getty Center multitouch table.
What we’ve discovered is that the table draws on people’s growing ease using gestures to engage with digital content—think iPhone and iPad. What’s more, we’re finding that the multi-user environment encourages conversation and exchange because it allows several people to “play” at the same time. People cluster in groups. If one of them doesn’t know how to engage, they watch someone else dragging and opening things by touching the surface of the screen, then try themselves and discuss what they find as they progress. The more people congregate, the more interest and conversation there is.
The Onion News Network’s Recon Wall
A custom GestureWorks® application helps the Onion News Network create “the most reliable news on television.” The Onion News Network, is a television series from the popular satirical news source The Onion, where news anchors use a multitouch enabled media browsing application to explore story content.
Recon Wall is a custom-built GestureWorks® application that allows users to manipulate and draw on images or video in real-time. Media objects can be sorted, scaled, rotated and annotated using intuitive multitouch gestures. The application is presented on a 52″ NextWindow 2700 overlay. This application is an inexpensive alternative to CNN’s $100,000+ touch wall. The Recon Wall system, including LCD, NextWindow overlay and GestureWorks® software, cost around $5,000.
The Onion News Network airs Fridays on IFC at 10 EST. See more about the features and function of the multitouch media viewing application in this video.