[lookoverthere]

Hey Everyone,

It seems like the Multi-Touch-Mac/iTablet rumors have been going on forever. The iPhone and iPod Touch have only fanned the flames. I personally believe that Multi-Touch would be a great control resource. Like many people, I am waiting for Apple to create a fully functional Multi-Touch computer. Over the past year I’ve been just a little obsessed with the topic. It started when I was sitting in my BioChem class and realized how the current keyboard and mouse interface limited my ability to effectively use my MacBook Pro in class.

After a month or so of dreaming about how a Multi-Touch computer would work I realized how complex it would be. One of the strengths of Multi-Touch can become a problem for developing such a computer. The dynamic and abstract nature of Multi-Touch literally makes every square millimeter of a Multi-Touch display a source of input to the computer. This allows for a great deal of simultaneous activity (allowing for advanced controls, simultaneous work, and simultaneous users). You have to have systems in place to keep up with all that activity without impairing the user experience. Just adding Multi-Touch on top of Mac OS X as it is would fail! That's why PC Tablets have failed to catch on. Multi-Touch is such a huge paradigm shift in interface design that it demands a fresh start with the OS.

Anyway, my obsession (and past research I've done in the "Psychology of Computer Use" [yes I'm a grad school science geek]) led me to make a fully functional Multi-Touch interface concept. Please watch the vids and take a look and the pics then let me know what you think.

<<Oversized text used in links that are the same as in the user's signature have been removed to conserve space.>>
Like he said, look in my signature for the links that were here





Of course the point of this post is for you to also share your hopes for a Multi-Touch Mac.

The recent rumors have this iTablet looking like a supersized iPod Touch. Would that be enough for you? Would you rather it be more like the Mac in performance?

What do you think are the problems with Multi-Touch interface? Is there anything that would stop you from buying a Multi-Touch Apple Device?

Do you think this iTablet stuff is going to happen soon? Or, is it just a bunch of crap?

Enjoy,

[turtle777]

I'd say this looks like blog spam.

-t

[adamfishercox]

Spammy, but could be salvageable into a thread. You say we need to start from the ground up with the OS, yes your videos show what is basically OS X with a bit of a (ugly) theme, complete with all the problems OS X would have with touch slapped overtop of it (the "Fonts" panel ripped right out of OS X has way too many tiny click targets.

[CharlesS]

I'd say a multi-touch Mac would look like this:

[ghporter]

Just so everyone knows, we generally do just ban people who post what is effectively spam for their blogs. But this is an interesting subject, so maybe we'll do something with this thread instead of just banning the user and deleting the thread.

And for what it's worth, I would NOT want a "Mac" that looked like the tablet PC with a poorly overlaid Mac screen in those pictures. Is that an ACER in those pictures? I might be interested in a tablet-convertable MacBook, but more likely I'd go for a regular MacBook with a multitouch screen...

[adamfishercox]

An Apple tablet will likely be more like an iPhone than a MacBook, but without some of the UI conventions that were simply forced due to small screen size.

[lookoverthere]

Holy crap! Yes I have a Blog. Calm down already! My idea is not one that lends itself to forums very easily. So instead of making a novel of a post I just gave you the link to the blog. Because forums don't have video sharing capabilities I posting the link to my YouTube page. Because forums mods don't like lots of pictures, I posted the link to my flickr page. I'M USING THE FREKIN' INTERNET HERE! Until there's a forum that can handle large amounts of text, videos, and pictures you guys are stuck with external links!

We can learn a lot from each other, so please post your ideas. I love this topic and I enjoy hearing what other people think! I only created that dang blog because people kept emailing me the same dang questions over and over and over again after watching the videos on my YouTube page.

Do I want people to see my idea? YES that's the point of the internet and forums like this! But I also want to hear what you think. There have been tons of insightful comments made to me on this topic since I made those dang videos. I like to learn more! I hope you guy do too.

Anyway, my rant is over now.

Enjoy

[adamfishercox]

Can you (without large red fonts) respond then to some of the points I and others have brought up?

[lookoverthere]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

..And for what it's worth, I would NOT want a "Mac" that looked like the tablet PC with a poorly overlaid Mac screen in those pictures. Is that an ACER in those pictures? I might be interested in a tablet-convertable MacBook, but more likely I'd go for a regular MacBook with a multitouch screen...

The mockup is my own. The whole picture is a 3D model created from scratch. It might look like a Mac Screenshot overlaid on a crapy 3D model, but look closer. It's part of an altered OS design.

As I look at Multi-Touch interface ideas I discovered that there are features of Mac OS X that simply transcend the keyboard-mouse interface. The Dock is one of them. Snow Leopard's new Dock Expose feature would be GREAT on a Multi-Touch computer.

At the top of the screen it looks like the Menu Bar. But it's not. After some research I found that the "On-Top" or Active Application setup with Mac OS X would be too limiting on a Multi-Touch interface. Menus have moved to a button on the title bar of the windows. At the top of the screen is the "Command Bar." This offers commands that control the whole computer or control the current environment taking up the view on the display.

The main difference with a Multi-Touch Mac (I call this idea "Slate") is not in the superficial appearance, but in the deeper gestural controls and object behaviors.

Thanks for not booting me out!

[lookoverthere]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Can you (without large red fonts) respond then to some of the points I and others have brought up?

Oh, young Padawan, if only you had been a little more patient. I was working on a response as you posted.

[adamfishercox]

As I look at Multi-Touch interface ideas I discovered that there are features of Mac OS X that simply transcend the keyboard-mouse interface. The Dock is one of them. Snow Leopard's new Dock Expose feature would be GREAT on a Multi-Touch computer.

Yes, but the windows themselves remain much the same, and contextual menus seem to be even smaller than they are in OS X. Things like that. The magnifying toolbar doesn't really do it for me, that feels "slapped on top" and inelegant.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by lookoverthere 

Holy crap! Yes I have a Blog.

WTF, dude

Before you go all ballistic, how about you read the forum rules.

-t

[lookoverthere]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

I'd say a multi-touch Mac would look like this:

And this is a great way to introduce Multi-Touch into a keyboard-mouse OS. PC Tablets failed because they tried to mix two very different interface paradigms. The indirect keyboard-mouse paradigm and the direct touch paradigm. Apple thought it through very well. By adding multi-touch through the trackpad it kept everything centered around the same interface design.

Often, we have a hard time imagining how new technology can be applied because we are looking at it from the perspective of how we use current technology. Today, you sit away from your data being displayed. You only interact with it indirectly through a pointing device and keyboard. A common example of our limited imagination is the complaint that "Multi-Touch would be a dumb idea because your arms would quickly get tired having to holding them up to touch the screen." It never occurred to people who make this comment that a Multi-Touch computer would be laid out in front of them like paper on a desk. With Multi-Touch, the indirectness and distance disappears. You would sit near and directly manipulate your data.

Because Multi-Touch is a much more direct interface you would have to radically alter the GUI level of Mac OS X and introduce a whole new slew of APIs to respond to dynamic touch gestures. You also have to think through gesture use so controlling the various apps would incorporate universal (but simple) gesture schemes.

Over all, I think a Mac-Like Tablet would not be able to run Mac Apps because they would all need to be redesigned for Multi-Touch control.

[lookoverthere]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Spammy, but could be salvageable into a thread. You say we need to start from the ground up with the OS, yes your videos show what is basically OS X with a bit of a (ugly) theme, complete with all the problems OS X would have with touch slapped overtop of it (the "Fonts" panel ripped right out of OS X has way too many tiny click targets.

Some of the "ugly" looking stuff in the videos are simply there because I'm not a graphic arts guy. Because of time (I do have a life), I pulled a screen shot or two from OS X as it is now. The font panel would need to have a complete redesign to it. It is way too small. As I said in another post there are some surface level similarities to the GUI, but it ends at looks. I took a great deal of effort to avoid "slapping touch" on to any of these concepts. So could you please elaborate on what looks to be a problem?

Thanks!

[adamfishercox]

Originally Posted by lookoverthere 

So could you please elaborate on what looks to be a problem?

The standard OS X toolbar then has magnification applied to it. Not redesigned. I guess it was placeholder but still just magnifying the toolbar seems to me more like applying a fix to an issue rather than designing it so it wouldnt need magnification in the first place.

[Cold Warrior]

Signatures here are a maximum of four lines of text or an image 200 pixels wide by 50 tall.

Don't abuse the size tag.

[lookoverthere]

Originally Posted by adamfishercox 

Yes, but the windows themselves remain much the same, and contextual menus seem to be even smaller than they are in OS X. Things like that. The magnifying toolbar doesn't really do it for me, that feels "slapped on top" and inelegant...

...The standard OS X toolbar then has magnification applied to it. Not redesigned. I guess it was placeholder but still just magnifying the toolbar seems to me more like applying a fix to an issue rather than designing it so it wouldnt need magnification in the first place.

The windows in the videos are not the right design. My flickr page shows how I envision windows. Believe it or not, but I don't think a whole lot would need to change with the window design. The main design change would simply be adding a wrapper to the window to make it easier to touch.

The menus? Well I played around with the menu design and size for awhile. I finally got it to a point where I thought it would be easy to touch while not being too bulky. If it really is too small then you would just make them bigger.

To the toolbar. I think the toolbar is just about perfect for multi-touch. OS X does toolbars like no other OS out there. And, their design would be very effective in a Multi-Touch OS. The only thing I didn't show in any of the videos is something I call the "Toolbox." The toolbox is a way to store and access several different toolbar layouts. When I'm in Pages I would prefer to use a different toolbar arrangement for Documents than one I use for flyers. With the Toolbox, all I'd have to do is pick my preferred arrangement.

Toolbar Magnification: It's actually a Universal Access feature for people who have bad vision or hand trimmers. But I thought it would still be useful for others. Take a stroll through the iPhone and you'll find several tiny buttons and other controls. For the most part, these tiny controls work fine. However, there are moments where I would love to bulge these buttons to get to them easier. Same with this Toolbar Magnification idea.

Thanks!

[kylef]

Typing is faster than writing, and a heck of a lot more legible. No thanks.