Open Source Multitouch Display
When Microsoft announced about Surface computing, all blogs and technology papers wrote a lot about it, but I didn’t see anywhere in the blogsphere or tech papers I read, mention about the open source multi touch display. Engineers at Eyebeam, an art and technology center based in New York, have created a scaled-down open-source version of Surface, called Cubit.
By sharing the Cubit’s hardware schematics and software source code, the engineers are significantly reducing the cost of owning a multitouch table. But they’re also fostering innovation by giving engineers an open platform on which to develop novel multitouch applications–something that they’ve previously lacked.
While Microsoft’s Surface costs $10,000, putting together a personal multitouch Cubit table could cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000, depending on the type of hardware used. Cubit is a boxy table with a clear surface. The single camera inside the table can be a simple webcam with an added infrared filter, and a
small image projector can be purchased for about $300.
I’m waiting for this to mature. It would be wonderful if you can buy a fully functional cubit for $500-$1000.
Source: Technology Review.