GSoC enthusiast hoping to integrate multi-touch user-interface

[Ashish Kumar Rai]

Respected Sir,

I am a GSoC enthusiast hoping to integrate multi-touch user-interface with
the help of MPX ( Multi-Pointer X <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPX> ) in MT
enabled desktop/surface.

Multi-touch denotes a set of interaction techniques which allow computer
users to control graphical applications with several fingers. The
multi-touch technology is in a development stage and offers immense
opportunities - both technical and economical. It will help in putting
computers to a variety of new applications and open up new kinds of avenues.
I feel that Multi-touch has started to show that it will be the
next-big-thing in the field of User Interface.

I do feel that Multi-Touch(MT) stuff is still in infancy stage but it has
started to show its effect through the phenomenal success of IPhone and
various big-shot companies are pouring in huge money to develop in-house
multi-touch software. Hence I would like to propose to start with the
development of MT based user interface the new generation desktop/surface
systems.

It is much more intuitive and friendly way for an architect or a designer to
develop and show models with his both hands by directly touching the models
instead of using the mouse as a pointer device which is more abstract.  A
user can very easily and in natural way can navigate/use an application
based on Multi-Touch user interface.

MPX provides multiple independent pointers (mouse cursors) at the windowing
system level. Since gesture depends a lot on the context, gesture support is
not required in the X. A gesture in one context can mean something different
in a different context. And the only thing that knows the context is the
application, very similar to a button press.Pressing a mouse button can mean
a zillion different things, depending where and when it happens. That's why
all X does is relay the button press to a client application, which then
does the right thing.
I am trying to build the gesture recognition and other supportive framework
on MPX so that multiple blob events in one application is also supported.
The final result will be a full framework wherein Multi-touch applications
can be easily and quickly developed and debugged and several MT applications
can be ruuning at the same time. ( not just several single touch
applications runing parallely on a MT surface .)


I am very much hopeful that intelligent multi-touch surfaces will replace
all kinds of desktops and laptops that we see as shown very much in
hollywood movies and to some extent in high profiles labs and military
installations. [ commandline will however exist too :) ]  I have been
working with MT stuff for over a year and have developed one of my own FTIR
based setup (  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp8SpXfChkY )  and currently
developing a laser based planar MT surface. On the software side I have also
build a simulator ( QMTSIM <http://code.google.com/p/qmtsim/> ) for fast and
efficient development of Multi-Touch software even if you dont own a MT
surface. The project has been highly popular and is available for both
windows and Lniux. This project was my GSoC project last summer which I
successfully completed under the mentorship of NuiGroup (Pawel Solyga).

I am looking forward for a positive reply from your side and I feel that you
will make me conversant about my prospects for  this project under your
guidance. I am hoping to make a full proposal with a time line and the
deliverables  and start working if you think that this could be a viable
GSoC project.

Waiting for your comments and suggestions eagerly !!


-- 
Cheers,

Ashish Kumar Rai
Electronics Engineering Department,
IT-BHU
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