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MultiTouch Pad

Here is a MultiTouch Pad I made like one I saw here on instructables. It works well you just have to be careful to not have any other shadows from your hand. The software is really cool. I used MTmini.

I plan on building a large MultiTouch screen/table as soon as I save up some money for that project.

16 comments

Nov 5, 2010. 10:58 PMcliffyd says:

ya I made one of these using touchlib software, You really need to explain your instructables in depth more please.

Jan 30, 2010. 4:50 AMdutchboy12 says:

I like my multitouch pads with ir leds and using frustrated total internal reflection
it uses ir leds to calculate(damn i love to say that word makes me all smart lol)
where you point your fingers and here you don't have shadows or so and you can work with objects like pens etc
read this : nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/1982/

Jun 2, 2008. 8:59 AM

Lithium Rain says:

Neat! But what does it do?

Jun 3, 2008. 9:04 PMFullyInvolvedScientist (author) says:

It is really cool. It is a very "low tech sophisticated" touch pad. You can use it just like a touch pad but, think about your touch pad being like the iPhone screen. Multitouch is great because of the interaction level with the computer. Multitouch tables and screens also have a very futuristic feel and look to them. Technology has finally caught up with Hollywood.

Jun 3, 2008. 9:07 PM

Lithium Rain says:

I've never used an iPhone, but that sounds really really cool. 5/5 stars!

Jun 3, 2008. 9:44 PMFullyInvolvedScientist (author) says:

Thanks! I will put together an Instructable soon of a multitouch of better quality. I recommend that you check out the video of the iphone at apple.com. The possibilities are great and using this approach at building one is cool to do.

Oct 31, 2009. 3:50 AM

DanNixon says:

I see how this works but surely to get a better experience you would need to incorporate a screen, from these images it is only the movment capture system in this.

Jun 2, 2008. 11:03 AMxACIDITYx says:

It's a computer interface device.

Jun 2, 2008. 11:21 AM

Lithium Rain says:

So it's a touchpad for a computer?

Jun 2, 2008. 11:22 AMxACIDITYx says:

Yeah, except this one uses a webcam sort of thing. Multitouch is different than a normal touchpad. How, I don't know. I'm pretty sure the wiki article has more info than I can give you.

Oct 31, 2009. 3:56 AM

DanNixon says:

The webcam has an IR filter so it can see IR light, there are several hundred (the more the better) IR LEDS's around the perimeter of the touch area, when you put any object on top of the touch panel (usually made of Acrylic) the IR light is refracted downwards, this is picked up by the webcam and interpreted by software on the PC.

Hope this helps to clarify how these systems actually work, this is basically how the iPhone screen works, except it has two IR transmitters (facing slightly upwards to project a screen above the surface glass) at opposite corners and is recived by recivers at the other opposite corners ( facing flush with the surface glass) which detect gaps in the IR screen.

Oct 31, 2009. 3:29 PM

Lithium Rain says:

Thanks for the clarification! Since that post I've built one of these myself and configured software to work with it; it is indeed awesome. =]

Jun 3, 2008. 12:22 PMarsy123 says:

can we use a webcam with ledlights on it..........or which would be better

Jun 3, 2008. 8:57 PMFullyInvolvedScientist (author) says:

Well You don't want the light to come from the camera. You want it to be completely dark in the box with the camera. The light coming in through the white paper is what the camera uses to see your finger tips when you touch the glass. The light coming in should not be very intense and cause shadows from you hand to be cast on the glass and paper. The best would be to light in from the side a in a room. It would be possible to light it with LEDs as long a the don't cause any hot spots or shadows to form.

Jun 3, 2008. 12:24 PMarsy123 says:

which camera did you use i can only buy a cheap webcam (no pocket money)!!! but i have a expensive one but its on daily use

Jun 3, 2008. 8:52 PMFullyInvolvedScientist (author) says:

It is a small Phillips PC cam I think it was about $20 at Wal-Mart. I would suggest a camera that gives you a high frame rate and capture size. Quality doesn't have to be good at all but, a high frame rate and capture size helps.