Introducing the TactaPad

      

Interact with your computer in a direct and natural way. With the TactaPad you can reach into your computer and use both of your hands. Just like the real world.   See — The TactaPad’s camera continually captures an image of your hands. Your hands are translucently overlaid on your display as live video. Touch — The TactaPad is touched directly with the hands. The surface can be touched in multiple places at the same time. A cursor appears on your display for every touch. Feel — The surface moves vertically when pressed, providing dynamic force feedback. Each touch has a unique feel which corresponds to the object being touched.   Productivity for Professionals  The TactaPad is designed for computer users whose productivity depends on how quickly and effectively they can interact with their computer. Learn more about how ourtactile, immersive, two-handed input device can change the way you work.

Tactile feedback lets you feel what you’re touching
	A Feel That Fits When you touch the TactaPad, the tactile response you feel is designed to fit the task. Pressing a button gives you a firm fall-through sensation that let's you know it was pressed. A disabled button is stiff and buzzes, to let you know that your press is being ignored. And when dragging you feel a soft springiness, with only a light touch needed to move across the surface. Unencumbered and Free Direct use of the hands means there is no mouse or stylus to acquire. This makes alternating between computer and real-world tasks seamless. And your hands move faster when there’s nothing to drag along. Fewer Errors Today's interfaces rely heavily on visual feedback. Because our visual attention quickly moves around the display as we work, it's easy to miss something. The mouse exacerbates the problem by providing false feedback — it always goes “click” even when your click does nothing. Since our sense of touch is directly connected to the actions we perform with our hands, tactile feedback is a great way to confirm user actions. And better feedback means fewer mistakes.		Richness of Expression The TactaPad senses not only the location of your touch, but also the force with which you're pressing, the area of contact between your finger and the surface, the distance that the surface has been depressed and its velocity — each updated one hundred times per second. This enables application designers to create powerful and expressive user interfaces. The touch surface moves vertically when pressed providing force feedback over a small range of travel

Reach inside your computer like it’s part of the real world
	Keep Your Bearings You see where your hands are at all times, whether you're touching the surface or not. So you always know where you are. Get to where you want to go quickly and efficiently. Intuitive and Unobtrusive The overlay is opaque enough to be seen yet will not distract from your work. Internal detail is removed, with the level of opacity and overlay color completely under your control. And applications can hide the overlay during interactions where clarity is essential. Collaborate Expressively Imagine a virtual whiteboard, where others can see your hands, and you can see theirs. Point, talk, gesture, communicate. When everybody has a TactaPad, it’s like you’re all in the same room. Use Your Muscle Memory Your “muscle memory” is how your hands and arms know how to find things without conscious thought. The TactaPad maps each point on your display to a specific location on the touchable surface. That means on-screen controls stay in the same place. So your hands just know where to find them.		See your hands overlaid on your display

Two hands are better than one
	Hands Working Together Many tasks are most naturally done with both hands working together. Why should working on a computer be any different? Rotate a shape with two touches in a drawing application. Or move two pictures at once to get your page layout just right. Be In Two Places At One Time Alternating between your hands is just as valuable as using both at once. You can have one hand near a tool palette, the other near your document and switch between them nearly instantaneously. You’ll spend more time working and less time getting around. Don’t Forget The Fingers Once you’re free to use your whole hand, you’ll find it natural to use many of your fingers. Imagine the fluidity of touch typing, but with your hands over a graphical interface instead of the keyboard.		Use both hands to simultaneously move and rotate a shape

Introduction to the TactaPad – 1:24
			This movie is a silent screen capture of a user interacting briefly with a few applications on Mac OS X. It demonstrates how the TactaPad is fully compatible with existing software. Requires QuickTime. Small – 5 MB Large – 23 MB

Advanced Interactions in TactaDraw – 3:57
			See how the features of the TactaPad can improve the user interface for a drawing tool. This movie demonstrates different interaction techniques which use both hands, either working together on one task, or in parallel on two related tasks. It also shows how tactile feedback can be used to augment the user experience. Requires QuickTime. Small – 14 MB Large – 59 MB

Frequently asked questions
Can I buy one? No. The TactaPad is not available for sale. Tactiva is currently looking for a company to license the technology and bring the product to market. How much will it cost? Since the TactaPad is not in production, it is difficult to quote an exact price. Price will vary depending on the final feature set and dimensions. A rough estimate would be a retail price of about $1000. Isn’t that expensive compared to a mouse? Yes. However, the crucial measure for a productivity-enhancing tool is the monetary value of the time saved in comparison to the cost — the return on investment. For professional users for whom interactivity is a bottleneck, the TactaPad will pay for itself quickly. Does the touchable surface change shape? No. The surface feels flat at all times. It is neither sculpted nor textured. However, the force feedback provided by the TactaPad can allow the user to feel for objects. For example, a light buzzing sensation can be generated when the finger is over a control. Or a transitory “pop” sensation can let a user know that they've dropped an item into a folder.		Where does the keyboard go? For two-handed operation the TactaPad is most comfortably used when centered in front of the user. The preferred setup will typically be a split keyboard, with one half to the left, and one half to the right of the TactaPad. Another benefit of this layout will be that the distance your hand must travel when switching between pointing and typing will be less than with a keyboard and mouse. How compatible is the TactaPad? The TactaPad communicates via USB and requires no special computer hardware except for a reasonably modern graphics card. The bundled driver allows it to be used as a replacement for the mouse with existing applications, as seen in our demo movies. Drivers for both Windows and OS X are in development. However, multiple simultaneous touches and use of different types of tactile feedback for different controls will require support from application developers.