Networked Multitouch Desks: Teacher/Student Features

I was delighted to receive a video this week from Andrew Hatch from Durham University and the SynergyNet Project. In it he explains and demonstrates some further features of networked multitouch desks that the team have been developing.

Just to recap what was demonstrated:

• Menu hiding on student desks.
• Remote load of application or content.
• Synchronise content layout to student desks.
• Independent updates and action on the desks.
• Changes on teacher desk updated on other student desks, including adding new content.
• On screen keyboard in the note application.
• Lock student desk content.
• Clear student desk content.
• Complete synchronisation between two tables – allowing for collaboration.

Further to the simple act of passing content from one table to the next, these features really begin to structure the way a whole class might work using multitouch. Once again this is one of the main aims of this project, to explore and develop the whole environment not just one single device.

What do you think? I am excited to see these developments and it gives me a much clearer idea as to how the whole classroom may function.