...being frivolous (less time for serious programming), then surely this will:
http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/multitouchreel.mpg Maybe, unlike my previous conviction, the video adapter is more than a buffer and a digital to analog converter! I retain my position that today's popular fancy "pixel shader" hacks to simulate reality (as conceived in some artist's head) case by case are nothing more than toys, and that any serious attempt should be done by tracing light rays (in software, or at least in hardware separate from the video adapter). But the prospect of real-time image processing of SYMBOLIC or practical (i.e., photo album manipulation) could be effect a great boon in rapid, interactive programming! I envision a stripped down 'Linux' 'microkernel' (no HURD jokes, please) where discrete, character-based input (i.e., "keyboard") serves only to bootstrap a general, powerful, visual-interactive interface, which is both a program interface and a programming environment (a la Bourne shell, but visual), where prototype (initially interpreted, in this environment,) programs semi-automatically 'trickle down' to C or assembly microkernel servers. Nvidia's incomprehensible 'binary'-only drivers look pretty tempting after these thoughts! (Reality hits when we consider how inflexible they are, though....) OGD1 seems to be caught right between two niches... too powerful for basic output covered by cheapo cards... and perhaps too weak for 'fancy' effects for use in applications like this? I'd love to get a chance to build one of these touchscreens! For those interested, it works by emitting infrared light (via LEDs) through an acrylic screen, in which the light is totally reflected (a la fiber-optics) -- nothing gets out. A rear projector creates an image on the screen for the viewer. When a finger touches the surface, though, 'frustrating' the reflective properties of the acrylic, infrared light is refracted out the back of the acrylic and picked up by a 640x480 webcam, processed in real-time by a 2 GHz Pentium 4! This approach is innovative because it permits multiple inputs, unlike most touchscreens. A diagram: http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirsense/ftirschematic.gif Note that this is not mine! It is Jefferson Han's. Perhaps an OGP board could power the interface? (Not the infrared signal processor.) It is large, unfortunately, due to the rear projector, and thus would need some clever engineering to become manageable and reach the consumer market. I think instead consumers will get wireless, flexible, place-mat-like touchscreen terminals using some semiconductor technology, but the current device looks great for researchers and hobbyists! _______________________________________________ Open-graphics mailing list [email protected] http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com)
