10/GUI – Multi-touch Concept for Desktop Interface
10/GUI is an interesting multitouch interface concept designed by Robert Clayton Miller that aims to replace the mouse based desktop interaction model.
The mouse is replaced with a touch tablet that is separate from the screen. All 10 fingers can be used for input without obstructing the display. Windows fill the screen vertically and are organized by application in a horizontal bar.
Pressing the right side brings up the global menu.
Pressing the left side brings up the application menu.
The more fingers you use, the higher their level of interaction:
1 Finger – Interact with elements in an application
2 Fingers – Scroll or pinch zoom inside applications
3 Fingers – Move and scale applications
3 Fingers – Scroll and scale the entire application space
Zoom application space all the way out and you get an annotated, thumbnail view of all windows separated into their applications.
It’s a clever system that seems feasible to me with some iteration on the software ui. I switched to a pen tablet from a mouse a few years back to reduce wrist strain. I love using my pen tablet as an input device, but this system solves a lot of the problems I have using it (the need to put down a pen to type, gui that isn’t tailored to the input, etc). Really hope a new desktop input model reaches the real world in the near future.
