The TUIO acronym translates to “tangible user interface objects”. This logo therefore intends to symbolize the primary application field of the protocol in the context of tangible interactive surfaces. The three central letters TUI standing for “tangible user interfaces” are surrounded by the large letter O, which represents the protocol in general as a unifying fabric. Finally the letters T and I have been designed to mimic the structure of a table in order to emphasize the role of the TUIO protocol for the realization of interactive tabletop applications.
You can download the TUIO logo on its page at TUIO.org.
January 7, 2010 at 3:42 pm | TUIO | No comment
It took longer than expected to develop the next generation TUIO 2.0 specification, since this new protocol generation is intended to cover a much wider scope of tangible user interfaces and interactive surface environments. The present TUIO 1.1 specification has been mainly used for multi-touch surfaces, but it also included the basic component descriptors for tagged and untagged physical objects.
In addition to improved multi-touch features, TUIO2 now has an even stronger focus on tangible (=physical) interfaces. Therefore it is not only enhancing the existing components with some previously missing attributes (e.g. pressure), but also defines new descriptors for additional interface component types. Apart from extending the existing descriptors for Tokens (tagged objects), Pointers (touch and pointing devices) and Bounds (untagged object geometry), TUIO2 introduces an additional Symbol component for the encoding of arbitrary symbols, such as RFID tags or data matrix codes. Additional Geometry messages now allow the more detailed description of the full shape of untagged physical objects, while several complementary Content messages allow the transmission of additional control dimensions, data content and signals for any interface component. TUIO2 also introduces the new category of Association messages, which allow to define various Container and Connection relationships between individual interface components. The new protocol finally also includes detailed Timing information, which is essential for the realization of gesture-based interfaces.
Due to its shared OSC name space /tuio2 and its more compact message syntax, the new protocol is hopefully more open for future extensions with additional component messages. This structure also allows the incremental description of individual interface components by a series of messages. A finger touch for example can now be encoded by combining a pointer and bounds message, while several properties of a tagged physical object can be referenced through a series of token, symbol and geometry messages.
Although the documentation still might need some improvements and eventually some minor error correction, I hope that the current specification actually meets its primary goals and can be soon declared final. If there are any objections or last minute proposals for improvement, please get in touch as soon as possible. In any case it will still take some more time before we are going to see actual implementations of TUIO 2.0, since most applications and client libraries are still in the process of implementing TUIO 1.1.
January 4, 2010 at 11:52 am | TUIO | No comment
December 3, 2009 at 1:22 am | TUIO | No comment
Immanuel Bauer and Georg Kaindl implemented the LocalConnection approach, which allows to transmit OSC messages to Flash more efficiently using a shared memory method. In collaboration with Dean North and Johannes Luderschmidt they developed a Flash/AS3 library, which adopts the common TUIO client API, but also supports legacy applications based on the older TouchEvent class, as well as an alternative TUIO/TCP method as previously provided by touchgateweay. The current C++ implementation in CVS, already provides the two alternative TUIO/FLC and TUIO/TCP methods within an updated TUIO server API used by the SimpleSimulator example. There is also a TUIO/UDP to TUIO/FLC gateway available for TUIO trackers that only support the standard TUIO/UDP transport method. It is great that we finally can abandon the obsolete Flash/XML encapsulation, which has been used so far to communicate with Flash.
October 19, 2009 at 1:15 pm | TUIO | No comment
There have been several interesting new additions to the TUIO software collection during the past weeks. First of all researchers at the University of Konstanz created the Surface-To-Tuio bridge, which implements a TUIO object and cursor source for the Microsoft Surface.This allows to directly use a growing collection of open source software on this commercial platform. Another interesting innovation is MultiPointer TUIO, which uses several mice to simulate multi-touch via TUIO on Windows. And two independent projects added browser support using different approaches, PookyTouch is a Firefox/XUL extension, while npTuioClient provides a browser plugin.
August 11, 2009 at 10:47 am | TUIO | No comment
Finally I managed to draw a line and released the almost finished version 1.4 of reacTIVision and the related TUIO client collection. Both packages can be considered feature complete but might still contain a few issues to be solved before the final release. And now I am getting back to writing, so don’t expect any significant software updates in the near future.
http://reactivision.sourceforge.net/
March 24, 2009 at 2:29 am | TUIO, reacTIVision | No comment
I will participate as a mentor within this year’s Google Summer of Code, where I will supervise all TUIO related projects within the Natural User Interface (NUI) project group. In case you prefer to spend your summer coding instead of hanging out on the beach, the submission period for student proposals is starting this Monday March 23rd and ends on April 3rd. So if you are planning to submit an open source project idea within the area of tangible (musical) interaction, I’d like to point you to the project details.
http://wiki.nuigroup.com/Google_Summer_of_Code_2009
March 21, 2009 at 3:04 pm | TUIO | No comment
Memo has been working hard on MSA remote, a free TUIO server application for the iPhone/IPod touch, which is actually the first application based on my C++ TUIO Server reference implementation. Unfortunately Apple rejected his submission stating that the “application contains minimal user functionality and will not be appropriate for the App Store”. Quite a remarkable statement … so join Memo’s appeal to get the application published soon!
UPDATE:
The application has been finally accepted and is now available for purchase on the Apple Store, and the free version called TuioPad will hopefully follow soon.
March 17, 2009 at 1:02 pm | TUIO | No comment
During the four years after the initial publication of the TUIO specification, a growing community has formed around the protocol and its various implementations such as tracker applications, client libraries and the TUIO API. This new web site dedicated to the TUIO framework, intends to provide a common ground primarily for core TUIO developers but also for users of the various tangible multitouch interaction frameworks that support TUIO. This will be also the place to discuss the present and future of this emerging community standard, please join the (still empty) forums.
March 15, 2009 at 5:23 pm | TUIO | No comment
