Technology trends – interactive touch displays

Major new installation at School of Cinematic Arts gives students the tools to realise their creative vision, with research projects from faculty and students on the capabilities of the MultiTouch technology. MultiTouch and USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) have announced the unveiling of the largest university interactive display installation in North America. The installation, which covers six alcoves in the lobby of the new SCA Interactive Media Building, is comprised of 18 MultiTaction 55-inch Ultra-Thin Bezel displays and creates a visually engaging and interactive experience for visitors. Part of the official debut of the new SCA building, the unveiling also featured a panel discussion by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Microsoft’s Don Mattrick on the future of entertainment. The USC School of Cinematic Arts installation runs six different interactive applications showcasing projects from its students. MultiTouch installations include rich features including the use of IR pens for annotation, email integration for users to provide feedback to the students, and MultiTaction Codice technology, which identifies the annotators interacting with the displays. “At the USC School of Cinematic Arts we are keenly aware that we are preparing the young women and men who will be the future innovators of our industry, and part of that preparation is making sure they have access to the best technology available,” said the school’s dean Elizabeth M. Daley. “MultiTouch’s technology allows our students to fully realise their creative vision, especially with regard to interactive features. We couldn’t be more pleased to have MultiTouch as an educational partner.”@page_break@“MultiTouch is excited to be part of this magnificent installation,” said Timo Korpela, general manager of MultiTouch. “We continue to demonstrate that MultiTaction displays are the most sophisticated and versatile interactive system in the market. The USC School of Cinematic Arts wonderfully leverages all the latest and greatest features that we have implemented in this system, including user identification, annotation and full Internet and social media connectivity.” The MultiTouch displays are both a showcase of students’ work as well as a place for students to develop new, cutting-edge, interactive software and entertainment. Though the displays are installed in the lobby of the new Interactive Media Building, the space also serves as a classroom and laboratory for teaching and experimenting with the latest display technology. SCA faculty and students have adapted research projects to use the capabilities of the MultiTouch technology. Some of the applications configured for MultiTouch include an art piece by associate research professor Perry Hoberman, an interactive time-lapse project on the construction of the building by Andreas Kratky, and the “PUCK” project by Jen Stein, which shows users their resource usage in the building. MultiTouch showcased its MultiTaction displays and turnkey interactive systems at InfoComm 2013 where the same displays and applications used at the USC School of Cinematic Arts were available for live demonstrations along with other MultiTouch proprietary interactive technologies such as Enriched Reality, which allows MultiTaction displays to react to the presence of real life objects. www.multitaction.com