SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Ractiv launches Touch+, the modern day mouse that makes any surface multitouch and more. Touch+ lets you control your computer from any surface and with natural hand gestures. It's simple, practical, and powerful, making everyday tasks easier, such as web browsing and playing games, while making sophisticated interaction possible, such as typing on a TV without a keyboard.
Touch+ is a small, sleek bar that connects to any computer and "sees" the user's hands like the human eyes do, tracking their positions with advanced computer vision algorithms. It is the first affordable 3D sensor that allows you to tap or swipe on any surface while seeing your fingers on the screen. Like true multitouch, you directly tap on what you see. Previously a hit on crowdfunding site Kickstarter, Touch+ has been completely reimagined and reinvented with a new name, new features, and a brand new design; being the perfect tool both for the everyday PC user and those who need their computer for more specialized uses.
Darren Lim, Ractiv Co-Founder, explains: "Touch+ only uses two normal cameras, so the magic happens in the software. While 3D tracking tech is fun to play with, Touch+ is the first to give it a very practical application that everyone loves using: multitouch. After more than 50 years of relying on the mouse, we're excited to offer a form of interaction that's simple, comfortable, and full of possibilities. We hope Touch+ will lead the way in showing how much more we can achieve by bringing multitouch and gestures to computers and other devices."
Touch+ is uniquely designed to clip onto your laptop, turning your keyboard into a multitouch surface that you can touch and type from. Instead of lifting your hand from your keyboard to scroll down a webpage, all you have to do is swipe a finger - saving the unnecessary strain of moving to the mouse or trackpad. For example, gamers can play first-person shooter games without a mouse, and designers can access functions hidden in menus by making simple hand gestures. Tasks such as selecting a menu can be done in half a second, while using a traditional mouse or trackpad might take much longer to navigate.
The technology behind Touch+ isn't dependent on infrared, allowing it to enable multitouch at short range and be undisrupted by infrared sources. Touch+ is also equipped with a portable stand that allows users to perform multitouch and gestures on any surface. While gesture control often means raising your hands in the air with exaggerated movements, Touch+ allows you to control your computer precisely and conveniently with rested hands.
Lai Xue, Ractiv Co-founder, explains: "The inspiration for Touch+ came from using a laptop on a bus and wondering what it would be like to have multitouch on the keyboard all the time so our hands wouldn't have to keep moving all over the place - which, needless to say, is tricky in a confined space. After early prototyping with lasers to create a single multitouch plane before creating a 3D tracking device, we look forward to sharing this technology with the mass market."
Touch+ is available now for $74.99 at http://www.ractiv.com