LucidTouch

Microsoft had released a new technology called LucidTouch. The LucidTouch lets you control a handheld GPS system with your fingers that are behind the screen by using a technology called “pseudo-transparency” which lets you see your fingers as a shadow in the screen and navigate the system. Currently the prototype uses a webcam to capture the location of your fingers but you can be sure Microsoft will find a better way to do this when designing an actual product.  With the Multitouch revolution already in full swing, a number of different companies have been coming out with multitouch devices that have made the people that purchase them very happy indeed. Microsoft has of course come out with the Surface and now they have come out with LucidTouch, something that addresses a very real logistical problem with a lot of handheld multitouch devices.Microsoft LucidTouch

While multitouch devices are great because of their high functionality, they all do have one inherent problem to them. If a person needs to very quickly interact with the touch screen, then a problem that arises in many multitouch products or demos is the person not being able to see the different areas of the touch sensitive screen to press. In other words, if a person were typing on a virtual keyboard through pressing the screen, on many smaller devices the very act of pressing the button on screen can serve to diminish their view of the other keys and therefore it can cause a lot of frustration amongst different users.

Well, Microsoft's solution to this very real problem was the development of LucidTouch, which many news organizations have referred to as being a pseudo transparent device. The use of a webcam in this device allows the monitoring of finger positions on the back of the device, thereby allowing you to place your fingers on the back of the device and still use them to activate the commands. LucidTouch has multitouch technology on both the front and the back of the device, meaning that you can learn how to manipulate controls from the back of the device and in doing so still be able to see all of the commands which are now not blocked by your fingers.