MULTITOUCH - SPECIAL SOLUTIONS ACCORDING TO CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS

The American corporation Apple Inc. has marked an era in digital technology with its iPhone. We incorporated the design of the iPhone into a series of information pillars. In order to be allowed to implement this, the client, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, first had to obtain permission from Apple.   

The 3D touch system shown on the left was integrated into a mobile flight case for the customer DHL. The entire model is backed by a bright LCD display. Parts of the three-dimensional installation have been made touch-sensitive with our Mirrormaid sensors. The project was realized in cooperation with Uniplan.  

The oversized multitouch system was manufactured for the Bach Archive in Leipzig. It includes two rear projection touchsystems installed side by side. The total width is approx. 250 cm. The multitouch table works with IR cameras and can detect the touch of the rear projection surface with the fingertips. Due to the complex setup, IR sensor frames are used in comparable installations today. 

Based on the planning of the design office of Dr. Ulrich Hermanns from Münster, the Multitouch-X has been created in the Externsteine Information Center in Horn-Bad Meinberg. Several through-glass touch systems are integrated in the futuristic body. They show different contents and can be controlled through the glass panes with a fingertip.  

The DDR Museum in Berlin uses the touch technology of heddier electronic GmbH in various places. Especially the touch sensors contribute to the interactivity of the exhibition. The Mirrormaid sensors are able to make any object touch-sensitive. If a visitor approaches them with his hand or another part of his body, an interaction is triggered. This can lead, for example, to the launching of a media player.  

Interactive street furniture and information pillars are in use in many municipalities today. The picture shows a city and tourism information system of the municipality of Dülmen in NRW. It allows input by touch, through an impact-resistant glass panel or through a robust stainless steel trackball. The unit is air-conditioned and secured with an alarm system. The info point is now in storage and has given way to the new construction of a shopping center.    

A special feature is the large front projection in the Küstenmuseum in Wilhelmshaven. From a height of approx. 6m, various images and films are projected onto a square table. Sensors built into the table detect the visitor's touch and control the application. Various beamer manufacturers offer camera systems for this purpose. However, they are much slower in operation and very inaccurate in recognition at the great distance.  

The 11-fold multitouch table in the Museum Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt probably represents a world record. Eleven 32" through-glass touch displays with corresponding control computers have been installed in a very confined space. The challenge was the building, which is a protected monument. The large table had to be broken down into small pieces to fit through the narrow stairwell and doorways. The project was realized in cooperation with the planning office Lehmann & Werder of Brandenburg.    

Touch systems in console design are part of the daily business of heddier electronic GmbH. They can be operated most simply by touch or mutltitouch. For reasons of accessibility, stainless steel keys are often also installed, they then cover the essential information of the system. Due to the simple structure of these devices, BrightSign players are used in many installations.  

A project of a special kind is the interactive touch wall implemented in 2022 at the Clemenshospital in Münster. The approx. 7 m long and 2.5 m high wall is equipped with controllable LED lighting. Patients, mostly children and adolescents, can touch different surfaces and then hear the corresponding animal voices. The light is controlled depending on the situation and interaction. The project was developed in collaboration with the planning office BOK + Gärtner in Münster and was funded by the Toni Kroos Foundation.