Multi-Touch reading 2

7 Things That you Should Know about Multi-Touch Interfaces

It blurs the lines between the virtual and the physical world. Here is a small but significant step into an intuitive and truly human interface with the digital world. How far are we now from a Holo Deck demonstrated in Star Trek?

Some of these surfaces allow for heat and pressure. You could start with a lump of clay, or even have it placed on a spinning table, then use pressure and heat to form the clay into you desired object as if you really physically manipulated the clay. Then you could have a computer model generator make the object like some of the engineers do with parts, and such, that they design on the computer.

It is exciting to know that there are companies like Apple, who are developing and implementing this technology right now. This has many exciting applications for the classroom. This is a big step in the direction of creating a virtual world where teachers are the guide and the students are fellow travelers. This could ultimately save schools and communities money since so much can be done on the computer. Instead of buying and baking clay, schools just need to download a program. This will, also, be a further argument for moving away from physical buildings where students congregate to learn.