MultiTouch has announced its new Hybrid Tracking technology integrated with its MultiTaction interactive displays. The new feature from MultiTouch is said to be the first optical multi-touch technology in the industry that is immune to external lighting conditions –expanding opportunities for interactive display installations in public spaces.
MultiTouch’s Hybrid Tracking works by capturing the shadows from external infrared light and combining that information with the reflections that are recognised by the infrared sensors through the LCD display. Rather than blocking the infrared light emitted by external sources, the display seizes the light and completely eliminates any interference caused by ambient light. This makes the MultiTaction cells with Hybrid Tracking ideal, says the company, for clients in the market for multi-user touch displays where external light sources may have an effect on the performance of touch displays.
“The ability of our displays to understand and adapt to its environment reinforces the various ways that MultiTouch is addressing the growing industry,” explains Tommi Ilmonen, CTO of MultiTouch. “With Hybrid Tracking, public installations can offer and achieve the same performance and interaction as installations that are in environments with controlled light sources. We strive to be the leader in touch technology and the Hybrid Tracking supports our mission to produce the most technologically advanced displays in the industry.”
Also announced by MultiTouch is a new remote management system, MultiTaction Management Suite, and its first application, MultiTaction Site Manager. The MultiTaction Site Manager enables system integrators, IT managers and content providers to manage thousands of globally dispersed, network connected interactive systems – making it ideal for the corporate, retail, digital signage and education industries.
“As we speak, organisations are deploying thousands of interactive displays around the world. Knowing each display’s operative status and managing their content and applications in real-time has become critical,” said Petri Martikainen, CEO of MultiTouch. “MultiTaction Site Manager is the first product to support remote management of large scale interactive display deployments.”
MultiTaction Site Manager brings the management of interactive displays to the desktop of system integrators, IT managers and content providers, and includes setting up and configuring displays individually or as multi-display video walls or tables; monitoring the status of every display in the network; and managing the content and applications in real-time on each display or as a group.
With MultiTaction Site Manager, the company says that interactive displays are transformed into a remotely manageable IT system, eliminating the need for most on-site tasks and resulting in considerable cost savings. Reporting the status of each display within the network in real-time allows immediate responses to system changes and provides improved end user satisfaction. The application also allows content providers to remotely manage the applications and the information that appears on thousands of displays, guaranteeing the immediacy and the effective use of digital signage and other content delivery.
“The MultiTaction Site Manager is the first addition to the MultiTaction Management Suite that will build into a complete set of applications to manage all uses of interactive displays,” said Tommi Ilmonen, CTO of MultiTouch. “Within the next months, we will expand the suite with additional remote management and monitoring functions as well as interfaces to existing content and IT management systems.”
