Multitouch screens let many fingers do the talking

Many new companies have sprouted up in recent years, their aim to focus on multitouch screens and displays like those seen in the Tom Cruise-Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report.

As with many things these days, initial explorations result in prototypes that are cost-prohibitive. However, large multi-touch screens that can handle up to 20 fingers are commonplace, with relatively small price tags to match.

Some scientists envision interactive tables, walls, whiteboards, and other useful business- and pleasure-related interfaces, all allowing multiple users to access the same information at the same time and, ideally, process different requests.

One kind of related technology allows the touchscreen to touch back, sending out touch-related vibrations that can be felt by curious fingers.

Bottom line: The Apple iPhone might be the vanguard of a whole new kind of data manipulation, one that doesn’t restrict communication to one finger at a time.