RE: touch-scren interface - was quest for an audio interface for laptop music applications

["Tim Thompson" <tjt@nosuch.com>]

> Haven't a bunch of hardware synthesizers had touch screens for a while 
>now?

One of the latest examples is the Korg Oasys: 
http://www.digitalplayroom.com/Korg/oasys_pic.htm .  They didn't make the 
mistake of trying to replace lots of sliders with only a single-finger 
touch surface, and they've made excellent use of the touch interface and 
resolution of the display to make a very accessible (and pricey) 
instrument.

What's new and noteworthy about the Lemur (and things like the Fingerworks 
iGesture pad) is the ability to detect multiple fingers simultaneously and 
independently.   This makes a *big* difference in the style of interfaces 
for which it's useful.  

If you're a software developer and want to play with a multi-finger 
interface while waiting for the price of Lemur-like things to come down, 
you can pick up a Fingerworks iGesture pad while they're still available.  
They're no longer manufactured (some unnamed large company bought the 
technology), but you can pick up a Fingerworks iGesture pad on eBay for 
~$150.  www.thehumansolution.com/pad.html has them new for $239 - they 
used to charge $199 when they had 100 units, but since they only have 19 
left, the price is going up.  The SDK makes it very easy to use from a C 
program, and the pad is *very* responsive.  Good resolution, too - it 
gives you well over 2000x2000 points across the pad, and it will tell you 
the area covered by each finger, which gives you a pseudo-pressure value.  
If you happen to use keykit, the latest version has support for the 
iGesture (PC only).

     ...Tim...