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Interactive Multitouch Display

by turkey tek on June 26, 2007

Table of Contents

Interactive Multitouch Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Interactive Multitouch Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Theory of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 2: Screen frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 3: Led rails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 4: Led mounting and wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 5: Prepare acrylic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 6: Screen sandwich assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 7: Modify webcam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Step 8: Projector mount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Step 9: Framing support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Step 10: Software and demos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Step 11: Enjoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Author:turkey tek author's website
thanksgiving!
...and bringing technology to this traditional celebration of excess.

Intro: Interactive Multitouch Display

Between the Apple iPhone and Microsoft's interactive table, multi-touch displays are all the rage. This instructable will show you how to turn your lcd projector into an
interactive multi-touch display table using a few cheap components readily available from the hardware store.

Here is a video of my display in action:

Image Notes
1. camera mounts here.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. projector image visible on the dirty mirror
2. my camera responds a bit to the ir leds
3. touchlib fingerpainting demo

Step 1: Theory of operation

This multitouch display screen design is based on the description in Jeff Han's paper,

Han, J. Y. 2005. Low-Cost Multi-Touch Sensing through Frustrated Total Internal Reflection. In Proceedings of the 18th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface
Software and Technology

The figure below comes from his web site .

An acrylic panel is edge lit with infrared leds. When your finger comes in contact with the acrylic, it scatters infrared light out the back where it is visible via infrared
camera. As long as nothing is touching the acrylic, very little of the light escapes, instead just reflecting around inside. Image processing takes care of detecting tips of
fingers and relaying their location to application software. Since the camera "reads" the whole display in parallel, it is easy to detect multiple fingertips at once, even those
belonging to multiple users. All this sensing goes on in the infrared spectrum, leaving us free to utilize the visible spectrum to display interactive software.

Since most hobbyists can't afford multiple projectors (i don't even own one, just borrowed it from dr.eel ), my design uses a ceiling mount that swivels so that the projector
can be used either in standard mode (say for watching movies) or can be aimed downwards, bouncing off a reflector and onto the multitouch display screen.

The screen itself can be constructed from hardware store materials and hand tools. Excluding the projector and modified webcam (commodity items these days), the only
thing complicated is the software. Halfway through this project, I was happy to discover that there is thriving DIY community which has already undertaken the task of
writing the image processing code and several cool open source demos which can be found here:

touchlib

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. black seemed like a good choice for blocking light.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
Step 2: Screen frame
The primary component to be constructed is the screen itself. This is a piece of acrylic, with a frame which holds the diffuser and IR leds in position. I opted for a
sandwich style construction out of 1x2s and aluminum channel. My acrylic was 30x36x0.25 inches so I made two frames to match, mitering the edges and assembling
with screws and construction adhesive. The sandwich design is simple and leaves plenty of room for wiring the leds.

Image Notes
1. note the protective plastic...leave it on until the last possible moment to
avoid scratches

Image Notes
1. delicious sandwich. aluminum extrusion between two slices of pine.

Image Notes
1. pi/4 radians

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. an earlier attempt to use some materials i had lying around...however, leaves
little room for wiring up the leds meant i had to abandon this sleek, round material

Step 3: Led rails

The leds are mounted in extruded aluminum c-channel, pressed into holes. The channel serves to hold the leds in place as well as providing a baffle to direct the light into
the edge of the acrylic. Additional spacer blocks cut from acrylic keep the panel from sliding around and pushing the leds out of their holes.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. corner filed off to give appropriate clearance 1. spacer blocks

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. i am in ur extrushion, providing ur klearance!

Step 4: Led mounting and wiring

I used 88 infrared leds I ordered surplus online. Their maximum output was 10mW @ 940 nm. Each led needed 100mA at 1.45V so i wired sets of 8 in series along with a
5 ohm resistor. I wired these sets in paralell across the 12V rail of an old computer power supply I had lying around. Since the total current draw is over an amp, you can't
get by with a wall wart.

Pour yourself a glass of whiskey and fire up the soldering iron...it will take a while to wire up 88 leds.

Image Notes
1. solder, solder, solder,.....

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. hemostats are teh rox

Step 5: Prepare acrylic

It is valuable to polish the edge of the acrylic to maximize the light that enters from the diodes. Some folks advocate drilling holes in the edge so the leds seat down in but
they seem to work ok just butted up against the polished edge. Start with 200 grit sandpaper and work up to 600 or realms beyond. Sanding always takes longer than you
think.

Image Notes
1. acrylic, available in large sheets at the neighorhood hardware store

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
Step 6: Screen sandwich assembly
Once the frame, rails and acrylic are prepared you are ready for the final assembly. Clamp the layers together for easy drilling and bolt them in place. Once the sandwich
is assembled, it is necessary to caulk along the edge of the aluminum in order to block any light that might spill out thru the crack. We want it all nicely ducting along the
inside of the acrylic instead.

In order for the projector to display on the surface it is necessary to also introduce a diffuser (not shown here). A sheet of thin drafting paper was included in the sandwich
supported by a second thin layer of plexiglass.

Image Notes
1. sheet of paper used as a diffuser

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. i am in ur extrushion, providing ur klearance!

Image Notes
1. black seemed like a good choice for blocking light.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. hinge point for attaching to the frame

Step 7: Modify webcam

In order to image the infrared light, we need an infrared camera. Fortunately CCDs in cheap consumer cameras are quite sensitive to IR, so sensitive in fact that it is
necessary to filter out the ir in order to get good pictures. I got lucky and had an old intel web cam lying aroud in which the ir filter was a cinch to remove. Replace the ir
filter with a visible light filter (so the camera doesn't see the projected display). I used the exposed end of a negative. See e.g., this instructable for more details.

Image Notes
1. old infrared filter (green) alongside my new and improved visible light filter

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 (black)

Image Notes
1. camera mounts here.

Step 8: Projector mount

A key aspect of my design is the projector mount. It allows dual use, whereby the projector can be used with a standard projection screen, or swiveled down for use with
the mutitouch display. I cobbled something together using scrap metal from the closet. A central support and cross piece with holes drilled to match the mounting holes
on the bottom of the projector are attached thru a bolt to the wall. The bolt provides a natural place for the projector to hinge from.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. hinge point.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. standard projection mode

Image Notes
1. hinged down for touch screen use

Step 9: Framing support

Last but not least, build some framing to support the screen. I started from a coffe table frame as a base and a couple wood planks to get the screen up in the air. The
exact geometry is dependent on the optics of your projector. The one I borrowed wouldn't focus at close distances so it was necessary to have the light follow a longer
path, bouncing off the mirror and back up onto the display. The angle of the display surface matches that of the projector (angle of incidence = angle of reflectance) in
order to minimize keystone distortion.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes
1. glass topped coffee table minus the glass top, found on the street in san
fransisco

Image Notes
1. mirror...came with my apartment
2. left over wood planks from repairing the futon

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. haphazard attachment, suprisingly rigid. 1. sheet of paper used as a diffuser

Step 10: Software and demos

The key thing to making this all work is really the software that converts the detected blobs of light where your fingers are into awesomeness...of course a good
soundtrack also makes a huge difference. I used touchlib which basically just worked out of the box. There is a calibration utility which saves results to a configuration file
that is shared among the other apps. I also downloaded some Flash apps, including the light-box shown in the video. These interface with touchlib via OSC, a neat
protocol for relaying timestamped events which should provide a good starting point for building your own apps.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
Step 11: Enjoy
Excluding the projector, the total material cost is on the order of $100-200 depending on what you already have lying around. Construction time was around 15 hours,
mostly soldering and sanding. There is a very active DIY/academic community which has started exploring this space; lots of reward and interesting things to be done for
little work with very simple materials

touchlib
nui group
multitouch blog

Enjoy.

Image Notes
1. camera mounts here.

Related Instructables

Multitouch How to Make a Back projection How to build a Wired multi- Low-Cost Multi-
Display (FTIR) Cheap 56 inch Multi-Touch projector touch
by rahi Multitouch Pad multitouch surface by remote by Whiteboard
(video) by television. by jck112 MisterHay using the Wii
cerupcat Christopher Jette Remote (video)
by jcl5m

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 321 comments

dancmarsh says: Mar 5, 2011. 3:20 PM REPLY

I know someone asked before, but there was no answer, so i wonder if anyone has tried it.

Has anyone tried mounting the projector under the table yet and setting the screen to rear projection?

I'd like to know if it works, would make for a neater and more portable install.

psalanoa says: Feb 24, 2011. 1:02 PM REPLY

how do you press the holes into theextruded aluminum c-channel?

Tangoforce says: Feb 3, 2011. 4:49 PM REPLY

Nice music man, what is it?

Oh great project too.

10fellowsd says: Jan 31, 2011. 12:06 PM REPLY

not the acer x110 its the best

softlux says: Jan 26, 2011. 12:40 PM REPLY

Sound’s good. Just one question for you. Can your multitouch recognize an object such as a glass resting on the surface? Thank you!

abadfart says: Dec 29, 2010. 9:54 PM REPLY

couldn't you just set the projector to rear project and put it under the desk

JamCat says: Jan 7, 2010. 11:40 AM REPLY

I used to work in a plastics shop, and I guarantee the best options for nice clear edges are flame-polishing or clothwheel-wax buffing (but as buffing is pretty
straightforward, and similar to other media I won't go into any tips)...
Flame polishing is really the best, and potentially fastest, but you should really practice on a similar thickness scrap first because you risk burning if you
move the flame too slowly. I recommend using an oscillating power sander with 200 grit, then 600 grit til the edges are silky smooth. Then use a MAPP or
hotter (for best results, we even used to use oxy-propane smallllll tip) torch to *QUICKLY* run the furthest tip of the feather of the flame around the edges at
a backwards angle (so the cone is pointed opposite the direction you are moving) - after all dust and masking is cleared from the edges. You'll see the hazy
sanded area turn clear and reflective very quickly if you are looking at the right angle.
If you miss a spot, or if some deeper sanding scratches remain, you can retouch with quick swipes keeping the flame even further back; if you burn it (and its
VERY easy to do if you don't keep it moving) just resand the edge with 600 grit, and use some soap and water with a cotton (or preferably microfiber) rag to
remove any scuz from the faces of the acrylic sheet. NEVER USE PAPER TOWELS ON ACRYLIC - they have wood pulp and will scratch it, eventually
turning it cloudy...
This will give you nice crystal clear (acrylic is of course clearer than glass...) edges that will transmit wayyy more of your IR light!
Good luck!

killersquirel11 says: Nov 16, 2010. 2:59 PM REPLY

Would a soldering iron be able to do the trick? According to wikipedia acrylic melts at ~160c, and soldering irons tend to be able to break 200.

Hossein says: Oct 17, 2010. 11:51 AM REPLY

Dear JamCat
i know what i wanted to ask is out of line but believe me i wouldn't ask if this was not my last chance .
I really really need to have the PDF version of this multi-touch screen here coz i took it as my major project and i have to build it in a week time and to be
honest i don't have the money to be a pro member and since i'm a student i don't have any visa card as well.
I was wondering to ask if possible can you downloaded it for me and send it to my mail i would mean a lot to me .
THANK you so much
[email protected]

turkey tek says: Jan 7, 2010. 4:03 PM REPLY

wow jamcat, many thanks for the useful advice and insights!

yosaulox says: Nov 8, 2010. 4:06 PM REPLY

man what software you used¡?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 zeeebus says: Mar 28, 2010. 6:37 PM REPLY
Awesome Job! This may be an idiotic question, but....I want to use my table mostly as a whiteboard for writing and brainstorming--hopefully converting into
typed text too, if possible. Would the side palm of my hand resting on the screen while I write interfere with the writing recognition?

Hossein says: Oct 17, 2010. 11:52 AM REPLY

Dear Zeeebus
i know what i wanted to ask is out of line but believe me i wouldn't ask if this was not my last chance .
I really really need to have the PDF version of this multi-touch screen here coz i took it as my major project and i have to build it in a week time and to be
honest i don't have the money to be a pro member and since i'm a student i don't have any visa card as well.
I was wondering to ask if possible can you downloaded it for me and send it to my mail i would mean a lot to me .
THANK you so much
[email protected]

squiggy2 says: Sep 15, 2010. 7:30 AM REPLY

your hand resting on the side of the screed would create IR light that the wii remote would see, and yes this would mess up writing recognition software,
but you could put a clause in the software that ignores any blobs bigger than a certain size - for a palm is much bigger than a finger, or any blobs that are
stationary (to a certain degree) or something like that, which would fix things up and make it possible.
let me know how you go! (or are going)

BIGHAIRYDUDE says: May 26, 2010. 2:57 PM REPLY

i think so

Neoferatus says: Oct 10, 2010. 11:12 PM REPLY

Interesting!! Thanks alot!!

UniBot says: Mar 30, 2010. 7:37 AM REPLY

Well if you use the 3v output from your standard ATX power supply, you can hook up in parallel N modules of 2 LED's in series (MODULES in parallel, LEDS
in series), being theese in a total power consumption of 2.8v... 3v will do, since (I think) that's within the LED's electric tolerance. Then you hook up (as i
said) N modules, with this I mean until you complete the average total amperage of a normal ATX power supply (commonly 19amps), with that you can plug
as many LED's as you want (as long as theyre within your power supply capabilities).

shinjiyuubix says: Jul 10, 2010. 1:05 PM REPLY

Without any resistors? Can you draw here a schematic? Thx

UniBot says: Sep 26, 2010. 8:15 PM REPLY

Im sorry for the delay, but heres a quick schematic. The thick lines are the 3v power output from the ATX power supply, (positive and negative
respectively). the rectangles are (supposedly) LEDs hooked up in series of two LEDs drawing a total voltage of 3 volts (YAY! thats exactly the same
voltage than the ATX! xD), thats what we'll call a "module". If we assume that each LED draws 50 Ma (milliamperes), then each "module" will draw
that amount from the power supply, if you hook up more modules to the power output of the ATX power suply in PARALLEL you can keep up until
you fill the 19,000 Ma (19Amps [depending on your power supply capacity]) of total capacity... that's a HELL LOTTA LEDS MAN!

PS: im sorry for the lame paint-made schematic.

PPS:I know, I made a short story long. Who cares? xD

shinjiyuubix says: Oct 4, 2010. 3:02 AM REPLY

Ok ok.... thx

Hypernoob says: May 31, 2009. 7:18 PM REPLY

did you drill through the acrylic? or are there gaps provided by the spacer blocks so you are actually drilling through an empty space.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 turkey tek says: Jun 1, 2009. 12:37 AM REPLY
i didn't drill thru the acrylic. it is just floated inside the frame.

ydeardorff says: Nov 9, 2009. 1:15 PM REPLY

Im wondering how this could be made into a large desktop for working with cad/photoshop and other programs.
Also, I noticed you were having just a tad difficulty playing with those picture files. Is that a problem with the web cam used?
Please contact me on this. Id like to know more. about making my own.

Rjessick says: Nov 9, 2009. 9:21 PM REPLY

part of it could be the webcam used. With some webcams there is actually a IR diffuser inside of it over the lens and they can sometimes mess
with the IR sensing. Another problem could be the paper that Turkey Tek uses. Normal paper may be too thick and not let quite enough light
through. The last problem could be the number of LED's that he has installed. More would obviously be better but require a hell of a lot more
soldering and what he already did probly sucked! lol

Rjessick says: Nov 9, 2009. 9:23 PM REPLY

a nice substitute for the paper is anything like drafting vellum or trace paper or the like...

UniBot says: Sep 26, 2010. 8:57 PM REPLY

above this comment I posted a solution on the LED amount problem by eliminating the need of resistors, as for the diffuser issue, the
besto soution I know is to put vegetal paper (white / translucent) under the acryllic, it provides the best visibility for the projector's image
and touch capability (that last part, im not very sure):
pros:
-good visibility
-easy installation, it sticks to acryllic thanks to static electricity

cons:
-limited size availability. maximum size I know of: mercury format (110 x 77 cm)
-critical installation. if theres an air bubble between the acryllic and the paper, the IR refraction of the finger will turn too blurred and
inaccurate.
-environment. the vegetal paper is EXTREMELY sensitive to changes in temerature and moisture, too much moisture... and the paper
bends on itself, causing air bubbles where we dont want them.

jakethink says: Feb 9, 2010. 7:05 AM REPLY

Who is this song by? Is that a Nina Simone sample? Sounds like her

UniBot says: Sep 26, 2010. 8:28 PM REPLY

No its not nina simone its... PEACE ORCHESTRA! :D the track's name is Who am I?... The first time i heard it was on The Animatrix. then i got the OST
and i found out about the song.

DeadlyDad says: Jan 4, 2010. 11:23 AM REPLY

Hi. I had an idea that should work quite well with multitouch: control elements that can be placed anywhere on the screen. The basic concept is to use QR
code 'rubber stamps' on the bottoms of the controls to differentiate between them. A digital button would have a plunger beside the code, an analog button
would have a rubber ball plunger (i.e. the harder you press, the more the ball is squished, the larger the area seen by the camera), a slider or dial would
have a brush. You could even have a joystick that is connected to a spring-loaded plunger. What makes using QR codes so ideal is that you can have over
4K alphanumeric or 2K binary data, which is plenty to describe a particular control's ID, function, and the position(s) of that control's input(s), or even hold a
custom routine.

Does that sound feasible, or am I totally off my nut?

srilyk says: Feb 18, 2010. 3:29 PM REPLY

That actually sounds rather feasible - you'd probably have to write your own recognition/filtering for it, but that wouldn't be relatively bad. Heck, with a
4x4 grid you can have what, 2^16 different combinations?

For the slider style, you could simply have 3 points - two statically spaced to orient the slider, and one for the slide position. Of course you could also just
make a slide-type image that pops up and use your finger to control it.

DeadlyDad says: Sep 24, 2010. 8:48 PM REPLY

Exactly, though the QR code block is the static position needed. Its contents can include the descriptions of areas in which to expect other points and
how to interpret them.

DeadlyDad says: Jun 23, 2010. 2:09 AM REPLY

Just had an idea on how to increase the resolution of the camera: Instead of having the camera look directly at the display, have it look at a mirror
that is attached to a motor, spinning, and sitting almost flat, such that each frame will be at a slightly different angle, but 4 guide points in the edges of
the display are included in each frame of video. On the computer side of things, a 'Super-Resolution ' routine (check out the references at the bottom
of the page) then picks up the frames, does it's magic, and Voila! Drastically increased resolution. (Yes, I realize that it isn't a drag-n-drop solution,
but there are lots of references and papers on it, so it is definitely doable.)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 redinc says: Sep 14, 2009. 11:27 AM REPLY
Is there a maximum number of fingers that can be used on a multi touch screen?

squiggy2 says: Jan 21, 2010. 6:49 PM REPLY

no there is no limit to the amount of fingers you can use with a FTIR screen. the limits are

1. how many fingers you have - the average is 10

2. how many your computer can handle - the smoke demo especially uses a lot of processing power and the more fingers the computer needs to track
and create effects for, the harder it will be.

vlezcano says: Jun 27, 2010. 9:10 PM REPLY

Sorry, but the amount of finger cant be average as 10, because that means, more or less, that for everyone that have a missing finger, there must be
one with 11 fingers, and if someone have missed 3 fingers, you will have someone with 13 fingers. the stabdar number of fingers is 10, but is not the
average

copiesofcopies says: Sep 15, 2010. 7:03 AM REPLY

It's true, 10 is the mode, but it was still a pretty funny response.

squiggy2 says: Sep 15, 2010. 7:33 AM REPLY

k fine my bad.
**'how many fingers you have - your average joe will have 10'
cheers copiesofcopies :)

Apollo2543 says: Sep 16, 2010. 8:16 PM REPLY

Well... Since a much larger number of people tend to have 10 fingers that would bring the average up. No need for someone with 11
fingers. If you have 20 people with 10 fingers and 1 person with 9, the average is 9.95 fingers. Close enough to 10 in my opinion.

nicksdjohnson says: Mar 4, 2010. 2:30 AM REPLY

With all the diffusers etc, is it still possible to make out objects placed on the screen? I'd really like to build an interactive screen that supports both detecting
finger touches and trackmate tags (trackmate.media.mit.edu), but it seems like this design will have too much diffusion between the screen and the camera
for that.

m2father says: Mar 9, 2010. 12:16 PM REPLY

I have bought a usb picoprojector. I intend to build up my multi-touch display using this cheaper projector (~US$250) instead of my last failed projector.

It can project upto 40" at 1 meter distance away. Thus, I believe I don't need to have a mirror as reflector

However, I wonder whether it is workable while its resolution is just only VGA resolution.

Any comment and suggestion ?

Thanks!

squiggy2 says: Sep 15, 2010. 7:26 AM REPLY

sorry for the late reply, you've probably already built your screen :P
as far as I understand, the resolution of the projector wouldn't have any effect. The program would work out all the things in the resolution of the wii
remote infra-red camera (1024 x 768) and it will simply be projected in whatever resolution your projector can do. the blobs of light made by your
fingers don't have a resolution.

freerunnin1 says: Sep 5, 2010. 3:12 AM REPLY

thats it then im going to buy a projector and make 1 of these, 3d scanner, multi touch pc.. sounds gd! :P 3d scanner: http://www.david-
laserscanner.com/?section=Downloads&file=david_laserscanner_setup tutorial: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xc6wsd_how-to-make-a-3d-
scanner_school :D

shinjiyuubix says: Jul 10, 2010. 1:51 PM REPLY

Can it runs on linux?

Natrix2494 says: Jul 21, 2010. 10:48 AM REPLY

Everything runs on linux ^_^ haha, but seriously, im sure it can..

shinjiyuubix says: Jul 24, 2010. 11:38 PM REPLY

Thx, soon or later i'll try.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/
 jpa234 says: Jun 1, 2010. 6:30 PM REPLY
would a set up like this work?

Nauscar says: Jul 16, 2010. 3:46 PM REPLY

yes but you need a short-range projector. . which are more expensive.

jpa234 says: Jul 17, 2010. 4:03 PM REPLY

what if i made a serese of magnifying glasses to shorten the projection?

quitit says: Jun 19, 2010. 7:39 AM REPLY

Has anyone used this kind of display for doing work other than just visual effects. Maybe like using the set up as a oversized touch pad for working with
Autocad and things like that?

danny9893 says: Apr 22, 2010. 5:34 AM REPLY

Excuse me but i have a question about the diffuser...What does it actuaiiy do?

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/