Evonik Röhm 7D006 RP is great for Multi Touch!

I ordered a 7D006 back projection acrylic from Evonik Röhm (the same acrylic that’s used in Microsoft Surface)  a few weeks ago and the acrylic is now assembled into the table. The difference between tracing paper and the new projection acrylic is massive! The image quality is much better and the colors are much more saturated. The IR-transmissions is much better as well, it’s quite easy to get stable blobs with this setup.

I haven’t had the time to paint the table yet and I still have to design a connection terminal for USB, Ethernet, VGA, etc. But this is something I’m planning to do in the upcoming weeks because I have requests that the table should be demonstrated during an event the 20:th of October.

In parallel to this we’re currently writing on an application for the EU FP7-program where I hopefully can get part of the funding for my PHD-studies (the table and graphical user interface development will be part of that.)

Much to do at work right now

I’ve had lots of things to do lately and lots of things to think about so the updates here have been few.

Anyway, a small update. I demonstrated the table for my colleagues last Tuesday and the reactions were great! Lots of fun seeing how people interact with the table and you immediately see what’s working and what’s not.

The next step for the table is to paint it, buy a computer that can be integrated into the table and design a connection panel for power, USB, Ethernet, External VGA and so forth.

I’ll add some movies when I can get access to one of our HD cams.

First demonstration of the table

Tomorrow will be the first “public” demonstration of the table. We have a kick off for the research school at work and the table will be there, running a small MT-WPF application that shows different people and their current research projects. The application is basically a standard multi touch photo application running Multi Touch Vista.

Research School Projects MT Application

Projector and rear projection acrylic

Last Friday I received a Epson EMP-400W short throw projector able to project a 90″ image from one meters distance. The resolution is 1280×800 which is perfect for the table which has a 16:10-format. I’ve also ordered a 7D006 rear projection acrylic from Röhm Evonik. It’s the same type of rear projection acrylic that Microsoft Surface uses. I’ll post more updates when I have the table up and running with the new projector.

Received IR-Ribbon and band pass filter

I received the IR-LED Ribbon from Environmentallights and the band pass filter from Peau Productions last Friday and this Monday I started working on a new table. I decided to reduce the size of the Endlighten and splitted the sheet into two. So now the Endlighten in the table is 850×550mm which is more of an 16:9 aspect ratio.

I made a new frame with aluminum L-profiles and created the various parts for the table in MDF. After that I did a quick test to see if I could get better blobs this time and YES(!) there was a huge difference. I used Mylyn paper as the projection screen and it worked out quite well. Will be interesting to see the results with a 7D006 Rear Projection sheet from Röhm Evonik.

After the test with some different MT applications i continued with the cabinet for the table. The dimensions of the cabinet is 1000×960mmx700 (LxHxD). Next up is to order a new short throw projector, a back projection acrylic and a mirror for reflecting the projected image. I will continue working on the table adding a door, painting the table black matte and start designing the fixtures for the mirror, the camera and the projector.
The picture below shows the current status of the table.