Apple Serious about Gesture and Handwriting Interface?

[50548]

That's a tough question.
I knew an Apple-liscensed Newton retailer, and he believes that the Newton was too large, and too tricky for people to get used to. Maybe it was ahead of its time?
The Palm did it right with the size – and graffitti was easier to learn.

The Newton went wrong because of the following reasons:

- initial versions of the OS and handwriting recognition extremely unreliable; also, lack of backlit screen and low RAM/slow performance;

- probably a good concept ahead of its time, but its bulkiness blocked many buyers as well;

- the last version of Newton was great according to most reports at that time, but it was something like "too little, too late";

- Apple was in dire need of resources, and the Newton team was bleeding them as 60s gas-guzzlers in Montana...Apple needed to re-focus on its OS (after the Copland disaster) and streamline its hardware line;

- add also the fact that the Newton was an idea totally fathered by Sculley, which had left Apple a few years before Jobs took over again under Amelio's rule. Bottomline? A perfect recipe for an axed product.

All in all, the Newton was a failure...as any tablet computer nowadays. It's NOT gonna happen soon, unless Apple creates THE perfect real-time handwriting recognition solution...alas, we are not in Star Trek.

 

[achie25]

I would personally love to get an IPOD/PDA/PHONE.
It would be great to have an apple version of a smartphone or blackberry that can also hold itunes as well as ilife apps running on OSX. It would keep me from having to currently lug around three different devices and Apple would certainly do a better job than it's competitors.

 

[ScottB]

i would SO much rather type something in than hand write it.

Me too, but keyboards can be noisy when everyone else is handwriting, not to mention concentrating. It's when you want to draw a diagram that it'll be easier with tablets. I see people trying to draw atomic structures using words autoshapes and seriously, they should just use a pencil.

 

[spydr]

Inkwell being in OS X (not hidden, not a beta, but there for the public) has always made me think Apple was seriously thinking about doing SOMETHING with it.

Yes inkwell pops up when you plug in some inking device- and only after you do so - a very apple touch of hiding a built in feature unless it becomes relevant for use.
However, I always suspect that apple does not talk about it nearly as much as I hope it would because much of its features are at a very rudimentary stage. The handwriting recognition is quite primitive and only a wee better than that found on 4 year old PDAs. It is completely useless for jotting down notes because it CANNOT understand cursive writing - just the very opposite of windows tablets which PREFER that you write cursively for better recognition. I think that is one critical advance they would need to make before they can even think of serious tablet product. I would love to get it when that happens

 

[discoforce]

Am I the only person who loves PDA and would love and OSX based PDA? Imagine it being able to sync with iLife to take some vids and music and pictures around with iTunes support and such while having Mail and Page support in it. I would use that all the time. Possibly a Widget function to add whatever little measurement and reminder unit you might want.

Nope, I'd buy it. I truly prefer my palm for mobile computing. When I got an ipod, I was excited that you could sync your calendar and notes, but it's next to useless as an organizer because there's no useful way to add contacts, appoints, etc. on the fly. Now as a portable hard drive for syncing my files: Priceless

I know I used to use my PDA till it went through the washer all the time

Hmm... I prefer a protective case to a clothes washer (though I could totally picture doing that myself)

I would personally love to get an IPOD/PDA/PHONE.
It would be great to have an apple version of a smartphone or blackberry that can also hold itunes as well as ilife apps running on OSX. It would keep me from having to currently lug around three different devices and Apple would certainly do a better job than it's competitors.

And maybe run the monthly service through .mac? It'd be dern expensive, but awfully tempting!

 

[crees!]

All this talk of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth touch screen iPods, and Apple Mobile Phones seems to be pointing us towards imagining Apple's version of a PDA phone. Are they just going to do this with greater style and iPod branding, or is something new and surprising waiting round the corner?

Oh SNAP! A touchscreen Apple phone! Man... just a thought, but that would be tight too.

 

[thevessels]

that demo vid was pretty amazing , very minority report like mentioned .

 

[Stella]

For all those who want a PDA -

PDAs are dead. Its not going to happen.

 

[50548]

For all those who want a PDA -

PDAs are dead. Its not going to happen.

Exactly...people keep on dreaming on such a stillborn idea...PDAs are DEAD! Tablets are DEAD!

 

[steebu]

so apple's stealing gesture interface just like they stole the graphical interface

this better be good

 

[sartinsauce]

Exactly...people keep on dreaming on such a stillborn idea...PDAs are DEAD! Tablets are DEAD!

Not to be argumentative, but how do you figure PDAs and TABLETs are dead? Are you saying that the new generation of smartphones is replacing the PDA?

I can't speak for everyone, but I want a cell phone that's a cell phone. Something small that fits in my pocket. If I want/need something more than that I pull out my trusty Moleskine notebook. It's an elegant analog solution. Plus, it's already a hard copy.

However, a 10" tablet would be very groovy. If I actually wanted to do digital work while away from my Mac I could slip it out of my backpack and get busy.

 

[aswitcher]

So what timeframe are we talking with this from the add?

 

[dongmin]

So what timeframe are we talking with this from the add?

Your guess is as good as anyone's here. My feeling is that handwriting recognition is one of those basic research projects Apple keeps around, like voice recognition, 3D displays, etc.

 

[balamw]

It's unusual for Apple not to do that from the start, and it really doesn't help to obfuscate anything because the PAIR data and inventor names give the game away to those who check the stuff regularly.

Yeah, but the only reason you can find the connection is that you already know the name of the inventor. This becomes much trickier when new inventors come on board in a company, and their patent applications are not assigned to the company until the patent issues.

Even companies with their own large internal legal teams have been known to make use of outside counsel in filing patent applications to further obscure their involvement in an application at the 18 month publication date.

I have personally been bitten by this where I only became aware of a patent once it issued, even though I have standing Delphion searches for the company in question and their known inventors. The application in question (from a new inventor, in an area they had not previously been involved in) flew just below the radar and surprised the heck out of me when it issued.

B

 

[billyboy]

For keystrokes not typing, cocoa gestures are very very efficient. Like a bluetooth Apple wacom pad that docks into your laptop! two finger touchpad with gestures recognition, built into OSX system wide, for either on your desk or on your lap/sat in your sofa controlling your laptop or your iMac, yes please. Detach it and take it on the road for inputting. Although, this sounds like yet another "remote" to lose down the back of the sofa.

 

[Eniregnat]

No scoop on these patent fileings, but I didn't see them here.
From Gizmodo

iPod like interface:
Pictures of Apples patent fileing, via Flicker.

Tablet like interface:
Picture

 

[gardenhead]

I'm sure this is a joke..

I mean, doesn't Jefferson Han has this job in the bag.

 

[DigitalComposer]

It's all coming together!

Apple's ISD (Integrated Sensing Display), GUI (gestures User Interface), with
the MTSD (multipoint touch sensitive display) patents. This is definitely starting to sound like the computer display/OS/UI of the future. Reminds me alot like Minority Report. Does anyone agree?
https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060113041940.shtml
https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/02/20060202070007.shtml

I can see myself now in front of my New MacPro desktop with it's 30"-40" widescreen display, editing a film in Final Cut Pro 6 with no mouse or keyboard, just my bare hands in mid air.

 

[Peace]

Put all this technology into the quasi-rumoured 42" HDTV/Mac and there you go!!

Just walk up to it and touch what you want it to dr if you prefer use the remote iPod..

I can't see a Mac Pro 23-30" LCD being used for this.It would be too uncomfortable and awkward..

so apple's stealing gesture interface just like they stole the graphical interface

this better be good

Many people have ideas.Patents are what matters..

 

[50548]

NOT GONNA HAPPEN...sorry

Not to be argumentative, but how do you figure PDAs and TABLETs are dead? Are you saying that the new generation of smartphones is replacing the PDA?

I can't speak for everyone, but I want a cell phone that's a cell phone. Something small that fits in my pocket. If I want/need something more than that I pull out my trusty Moleskine notebook. It's an elegant analog solution. Plus, it's already a hard copy.

However, a 10" tablet would be very groovy. If I actually wanted to do digital work while away from my Mac I could slip it out of my backpack and get busy.

I say it because it's a fact. The tablet is a stillborn concept which MIGHT be successful in the long run if/when a company devises a perfect, real-time mechanism for handwriting recognition. So far no one has come CLOSE to that. Besides, no other solution is better than a keyboard for data input nowadays. Microsoft feels yet another pain with a total blunder in the tablet market; these are expensive and useless toys.

I would NEVER prefer to write a long essay with a stylus and a touch-screen; if people tell you otherwise, they are either crazy or just full of daydreams. The PDA market suffers from a similar illness; they want to cram everything in there, and then you see a mini-monster with a thousand keys and a minuscule screen. The Treos/Blackberries are abhorrent in that sense, and useless for anything more than note-taking and quick info checks.

As you said, convergence and mobile phones will cause the market to consolidate; Palm is almost bankrupt now, and others will follow. You want a mobile with some additional functions, like an agenda or some sync features? Buy a mobile.

You want anything compact for serious work? Buy a 12" notebook and be happy...the rest is just a reverie of Star Trek fans.

 

[lacrossegoalie4]

My buddy at Apple told me their engineers look at these sites frequently. If that's the case,

LET'S SEE THE TABLET

Thanks

 

[geese]

Had anyone used one of those Toshiba laptop tablet thingies? I really liked using one at work. It was just like a normal laptop, expect you could flip the screen up and fold it like a bulky Newton 2100.

It had great potential. The 'tablet' function worked great when you needed to scribble notes in meetings, draw rough diagrams, anything that needed to be done quickly.

Imagine a 12" Powerbook with this ability. I reckon designers would like the ability to use it as a graphics tablet. I think the 'tablet' aspect of this would enhance the other fnctions of the laptop, rather then replace it.

On another note, think of the pr0n applications that could be used for a gesture based interface!

 

[garycruz]

Here's a video example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVI6xw9Zph8

 

[Billy Boo Bob]

I've seen them alive and well.

Exactly...people keep on dreaming on such a stillborn idea...PDAs are DEAD! Tablets are DEAD!

I don't know about that. When I visit the local doctor's office, located inside the hospital, tablet PCs are all over the place, in steady use all day long. Everywhere you look someone's carrying one around. It's one of those that can flip the lid and set up like a normal laptop, but they use it in tablet form most often. They seem quite handy moving around from room to room, looking up patient records and all that.

And this is just one application for it. As mentioned above, anyone who's on their feet a lot with their work would find it handy. It may not be the only machine you use, but these things can be a lot handier than hauling a normal laptop around and using a trackpad or added mouse for what they do.

So what if it's not for everyone. It's just a matter of what you need and if you need it. How many can they have to sell to make it worth development and production? If they think it's worth it, I say "Bring it on." As a software developer, I would love to write apps for something like that, with the gestures and all.

If you think about it, the tablets that are out right now are probably not selling well because they're limited by a crappy OS under the hood (read: Windoze) with very few capabilities that go beyond what you can do with a mouse and keyboard. Put some Apple class on one and you'll start to see some real innovation... Not just with the unit, but with the software that comes out for it.

 

[yac_moda]

Apple's ISD (Integrated Sensing Display), GUI (gestures User Interface), with
the MTSD (multipoint touch sensitive display) patents. This is definitely starting to sound like the computer display/OS/UI of the future. Reminds me alot like Minority Report. Does anyone agree?
https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060113041940.shtml
https://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/02/20060202070007.shtml

These ideas apply more effectively to a cell phone, iPod than any other device.

Especially if the touchpad is on that back, if its a touchscreen with a small display you can't see past your finders to see what you are doing.

I made a little color picker that worked this way many years ago, in Supercard, although I can't remember exactly what it was ...

I you could hold your hand back a foot or so that would be really cool, but I don't think it would work, even with a camera integrated in the display.

Not unless you have a ring on your finder to coordinate the input -- I did send that idea to Apple years ago.

It could be just a paper ring, an RFID tag.

But a video conferencing cell phone could really use the camera display.

Although, what if its a new kind of camera that sees like a fly -- HELP ME, HELP ME, help mmme !!!

I did send Apple, one of my best ideas about a year ago where I told them to create eye goggles like the bubble goggles swimers use, call them iGooogles, that would have many cameras in it that would shoot video with multiple appatures and then stick the picture together to appear the same as human vision with the up close and far away with good lighting.

But the glasses were opoach with multiple transperant OLEDs on the inside to make an i3D display and a single layer on the outside to display iBALLs !!!

So if the outside of the glasses had thousands of tiny cameras, and a display to show YOUR LOOK and your hands and fingers were tracked in mid air to work the interface with head tracking and inside the glasses the images layered and redisplayed, computer augmented reality ...

iLive !!!

Headphones for video.


Your could look at someone far away and squish their head between your fingers and your Mac would take a picture of them with a squished head !??!?!?!?!!?


Actually for handwriting, if you could put a pad of paper in front of the computer and write on the pad, and the computer picked up the input, for writing recognition that would be the best.

A BT ear phone that also functions as a mouse or you can stick on the head of a pen or pencil, are accelerator-meters THAT GOOD ?!?!?!?

Put a beeper in it so its easy to find.

They do have batteries that stay charged for at least 12 years now, I sent Apple a link to that company.