Has SpaceClaim Found the Future Interface?

Not long after I got my Blackberry Tour, I handed it to my wife so she would be properly impressed. She instinctively touched the screen to access an application. "No, no, it's not a touch screen, " I say. I grabbed it back and showed her how to use the little trackball to coax the cursor over the icon, then click on it. But the moment was lost. I realized my new toy was already yesterday's technology. Thanks a lot, Apple!

In the blink of an eye, a UI transformation is complete. Apple was a genius 20 years ago when it came out with a little white one button mouse and it's a genius again for throwing the mouse away. To use a touchscreen just once is enough to forever alter your expectation of an interface.

SpaceClaim has a touchscreen interface shown here as two fingers used to rotate model.

In our industry, SpaceClaim is right there. They're the first to use touchscreen technology as a CAD interface. Blake Courter, SpaceClaim's cofounder, is giving me a demo. He is using GoToMeeting, so I have to imagine his fingers using the touchscreen... a little wierd. I play the old skeptic. "But are many CAD users using touchscreens?" I ask, forcing Blake to admit that, no, they are not. SpaceClaim is ahead of demand for this technology. But I should be commending SpaceClaim for having the guts go boldly where no man has gone before -- in CAD, anyway. Build it and they will come. Isn't that what Apple did? Companies can keep making safe little incremental changes -- or take big steps, go for paradigm shifts, singularities... whatever the business bestsellers are calling it these days.

There may have been many missteps and wrong paths in innovation, or even good ideas badly implemented. But the future belongs to companies who are not afraid to try and keep trying. 

 

Minority Report - totally cool UI but most CAD operators cannot wave their hands in front of them for 8 hrs a day.

In all honesty, I can't see designers and engineers all using tablet laptops with touchscreens. For one thing, they are too expensive. For another, they don't have  the workstation-type horsepower MCAD needs. Even if there is a desktop monitor with a touchscreen (Blake says he has one), I think I'd get really tired of holding my arms out in front of me trying to touch it. 

But how about a big touch screen in front of me, slightly tilted, like small desk, or the way old drafting tables were? Moving models around on that, mating parts, zooming panning... it would be a breeze. I could rest my arms. Can you picture that? Any one like Apple in the audience?

Comments

[Duce]

I saw a TED talk where they used a projector under a desk and motion tracking software to give you a "touch" screen. That couldbe scaled to drafting table size pretty easily.

[adicahya]

Touchscreen interface (especially multi touch one) needs different user interface from mouse based interface.
From the photo above, SpaceClaim UI is still to mouse base with their small icon, etc.

If we want to make touch CAD, the software will have different way of logic, maybe it would be closer to actual clay modeling plus a little bit hand drawing.

The software itself should be able to predict what we want to do after we sketch on it, and present the possibility. This way, engineer would be able to develop model more natural, unlike todays 3D CAD.
Therefore the interface would become more simpler.

As hardware point of view, maybe 25 inch touchscreen at around 5degree angle (maybe) is OK. And it should strong enough to support our hand resting on top of it.

Afterall, i believe CAD will also to move to this direction. Can't wait for it.

[Jnny]

I've long dreamed of this type of interface for brainstorming designs in CAD. It would permit rapid manipulation of on-screen data.

Microsoft is pushing hard for large-scale touch screen interfaces and trying to lure computer manufacturers to follow. They may beat Apple in the CAD arena.

And yes, the angle and height would need to be adjustable, just like the drawing boards. I’d love to spend part of my day standing while doing CAD work. It would be better for my muscle skeletal system.

[Oleg Shilovitsky]

I think vertical touch screen is not comfortable if you use it for long period of time during the day. Table will be better... Oleg

[twitter.com/burhop]

I loved the drafting table analogy. Too much of the gesture technology applied to CAD makes me think of hooking up my "dance dance revolution" mat to my CAD system.

But those of us old enough to remember the drafting tables know you can sit at one of those for long hours. The total surface area blows away even a large PC monitor. Smugging is still a problem but at least it won't be on your design, just your desk :-)

[ralphg]

The problem comes in remembering all the finger moves -- analogous, I suppose, to remembering keyboard shortcuts.