Ontario LinuxFest 2008

“Student Scott Sullivan, in a talk called “The Horizon of the
Human Interface,” discussed new hardware to let us interact with
our computers. We are reaching the limits of the capabilities of
keyboards and mice, Sullivan said, brandishing a Nintendo
Wiimote.

“The Wiimote, he said, has three accelerometers, allowing it to
recognise relative movement in space. It is also equipped with a
relatively high-performance infrared camera and Bluetooth, sells
for about $45, and has been fully reverse-engineered. “There are
oodles of drivers for it,” he said, some in X, and he made the
point by changing to the next slide in his presentation by pressing
a button on his Wiimote.

“Sullivan briefly touched on the latest touch-screen technology,
describing something called FTIR — Frustrated Total Internal
Reflection. Current touch-screens, he said, allow only one input at
a time. FTIR touch-screens work differently, and allow an infinite
number of inputs at a given time. The technology operates simply,
he explained, by employing a piece of plexiglass with LEDs around
its edge pointed inward. An image is projected on it from behind.
The light from the LEDs reflects around inside the pane of
plexiglass, and when someone makes contact with it, it breaks that
reflection and the input can be read from an optical sensor out
near the projector.”

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