Just back from a demonstration of the 2Touch IWB system.
What is 2Touch? [1]
The latest Interactive Whiteboard to be introduced to the market is the revolutionary 2Touch. Offering a truly unique interactive whiteboard (IWB) experience the 2Touch is comprised of minute cameras located around the surface of the board which detect the exact location of any object approaching the screen. This signal is then used to communicate with a connected computer via USB.The 2Touch optical whiteboard system uses a standard USB interface and needs no software drivers to be installed, enabling it to operate with any Windows, MAC or even Linux system. Additionally it can be used with any software on your computer, just use your fingers on the board as a mouse and off you go!
ADVANTAGES
- standard Human Interface Devices, no special drivers are needed (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- a conventional “hard” writing surface
- can handle 2:1 widescreen ratio as well as the standard 4:3
- calibration process easy to start from Windows
DISADVANTAGES
- hotspot on writing surface (solve with short throw projector?)
- gap required at top of board (8cm?) to allow for tracking by cameras
- dust/dirt in camera or blocking LED will drift calibration
- calibration via scroll lock key cannot be started from Mac, must press button on board (current version)
Specifications:
Standard surface dimensions: 1200mm (H) x 2400mm (W)
Touch surface: Ceramic steel, projection optimized
Touch method: Finger, gloved hand, or any other pointer
Touch activation force: No pressure required. Hover-capable
Resolution: USB reported touch resolution 32767 x 32767
Response time: Typically 71 touches per second (14 ms)
Operating Conditions: Temp 0°C -55°C, 10%-90% relative humidity
Drivers: No special drivers required: Native HID.
Calibration: Simple four-point driverless calibration
Operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux
Warranty: 3 years parts and labour
Options: frame colour (anodised silver standard); smaller sizes; choice of accessory software applications.
The unit tested well with both Windows XP and Mac OSX laptops. The actual 2Touch input system can track two separate inputs which can be passed through to software that can manage multi-input.
[1] 2touch interactive whiteboard systems [DIB Australia]
[2] 2Touch Specification Sheet (PDF) [DIB Australia]
[3] 2Touch D.I.B Users Manual (PDF) [DIB Australia]
[4] 2Touch interactive whiteboards [2Touch]
Could I ask you to clarify what yo mean by hot spots on the writing surface in terms of the 2Touch board.
@sue healey
Hot spots are caused by a the light from the projector being reflected straight back into the viewers eyes. Most specialised projection surfaces use tricks to avoid this problem, the 2Touch being a standard whiteboard surface doesn’t have the tricks available so you need to solve the problem via the projector.
cheers