Integrating Touch and Write Into a Single Multi-Touch Surface

摘要

Use of traditional keyboard and mouse in software systems restricts the way of interaction with computers. Therefore it is a challenge for designers to create software which is intuitive for first time users. In contrast Multi-Touch tabletop environments provide a hands on experience, offering a wider domain of usage scenarios. Current Multi-Touch solutions lack in a way of intuitively switching between two important modes: moving the objects and editing their content, i.e., drawing or writing. In this paper the recently developed Touch & WriteTabletop is described. It combines the FTIR technology for touching with the Anoto-technology for handwriting. This allows an implicit switch between the modes object manipulation, and content editing. As an example application, the LeCoOnt concept mapping software is introduced which makes use of the full capability of the Touch & Write table. Touching actions are used for arranging the concepts and semantic zooming, while pen-actions are used for drawing, connecting concepts, and handwriting. The handwritten strokes are automatically recognized and converted into a machine-readable string.