Technology

Our Touch & Write table is a unique single rear projection table which integrates hybrid technologies for touching and writing. Through this hybrid approach DFKI provides a unique and highly innovative technology for collaborative knowledge work.

Multitouch

Multitouch technology allows for an unlimited number of interaction points with a device. Touch & Write uses the Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR) technique for providing the table with multitouch reactivity. This enables the users to have hands on interaction with the software. Therefore, the users are able interact with applications in similar ways as they would interact with real objects on the table.

Digital Pen

What makes Touch & Write unique, is the integration of a digital pen along with the standard infrared-camera based multi-touch metaphor. This is done using the Anoto digital pen technology. The Anoto technology allows the pen to analyze a unique and to the human eye almost invisible dot pattern that is printed on the paper. A camera mounted in the top of the pen sees this pattern and calculates the exact pen position. The mapping with the screen-coordinates is done using the iPaper-framework of the Globis Group at ETH Zürich. Note that pen-gestures and handwriting can thus be resolved much more precisely than with an IR-camera.

Handwriting Recognition

For handwriting recognition, we use MyScript by Vision Objects. Vision Objects develops and markets MyScript, highly accurate on-line handwriting recognition technology. MyScript is designed to offer an easy-to-use and ergonomic alternative for text input using pen-based user interfaces. MyScript provides the highest recognition accuracy in the market with outstanding confidence scores and dramatically low error rates.