Multi-touch has changed the way that people have interacted with their phones, tablets, and even computers. Mainstream exposure to multi-touch technology occurred in 2007 when the Apple iPhone gained popularity, with Apple stating they 'invented multi touch' as part of the iPhone announcement. Implementation of multi-touch did indeed come with what would eventually become iOS, but the phrasing and ideology of such technology predate the iPhone.
Since 2007, multi-touch has exploded in popularity and usage. Most smart-phones use the technology. Tablet computers use it almost exclusively, and now the possibilities of multi-touch on tables, remote controllers, and even as a non-tactile touch system are becoming more of a reality.
Earlier in the decade, multi-touch seemed like a futuristic idea--like flying cars, avatars, and hover-boards. The Minority Report was an exciting concept idea of multi-touch could become:
Of course, multi-touch has been on your favorite mobile Apple product for years now. Combined with the explosion of the App Store and multi-touch apps that pretty much everyone has become dependent on, multi-touch has become ingrained into our technology and our lives.
But with the introduction of the new Apple T.V., which allows for devices to stream content to their favorite HD T.V., multi-touch might see an even bigger role in our media lives. Apple T.V. runs a version of iOS, which means it may be able to run apps at some point. But even more exciting is running apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and streaming it to your T.V., still using your device as input, but seeing the app on big High Definition goodness:
But with the future upon us, multi-touch has evolved even more. Now multi-touch can be used without the touch part. (Do you just call that 'Multi'?). With the new Kinect from X-Box, gaming without a controller allows for a camera to sense what motions you perform and then interprets them into input. As the commercial and X-box fanboys say, "You are the controller."
While the idea of gaming with such a device seems novel and fun, the application of this kind of cheap technology is probably more relevant to uses outside the gaming community. With some modifications, Kinect can be used for other computing uses. Watch someone surf the web using the Kinect's multi-touch technology:
Someday the future will look something like this (according to some firmware designers over at RIM):
Even with all of this awesomeness, I still want one of those Minority Report glass stations. Maybe the Church of Scientology has an extra I could borrow?
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