TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

User-Defined Gestures Make Smarter Use of TouchPad

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 01-08-10 | Comments

A Scrybe software download for Synaptics' TouchPad enables users and OEMs to define their own gesture workflows.

If you have a Synaptics TouchPad, and 70 percent of laptops do�including Sony, Dell, HP, Gateway and Acer laptops�you may want to participate in the free Scrybe beta-testing program by downloading a software upgrade that enables user-defined gestures. Participating in the beta-test program will also allow you to help define the standard capabilities to be delivered to OEMs when the finished product is released.

Scrybe gesture workflows will be included in next-generation laptops using the Synaptics TouchPad by virtue of the newest Synaptics Gesture Suite (Version 9.4), which OEMs use to define the capabilities of their computers' user interface. But why wait? Download the software upgrade yourself, and you can get a jump on next-generation gesture workflows by defining your own. Scrybe enables users to define multitouch finger movements for use as shortcuts to increase productivity, get work done more efficiently and just have fun.

Scrybe gesture technology aims to fundamentally change the man-machine interface, according Ted Theocheung, head of the Scrybe program and PC and Digital Home Business Unit products.

Personalized gestures can be defined to link together task-oriented workflows for any application, such as shortcuts to your favorite Websites and media apps or to increase productivity. Many tasks that used to require the use of the keyboard can now be defined as custom gesture symbols. One example given by the Scrybe team is double-clicking on a word to highlight it, then drawing a question mark on the TouchPad, which launches a browser and does a Google search on the selected word.

Check out the Scrybe demonstration videos for many more ideas. Examples include gestures to run presentations; load digital media; control play, pause, previous and next commands; and scroll through playlists. Scrybe gesture workflows can be defined for specific applications, such as to rotate, crop, tag, rate and edit images in Photoshop; perform OS functions; or surf to your favorite Websites, all from TouchPad gestures.

Scrybe works best if you already have a multitouch TouchPad, but it also supports the single-touch TouchPads already installed on many laptops. The Synaptics Gesture Suite comes with predefined media control gestures for stop, play, rewind, fast-forward, next, previous and jog dial advance. OS gestures for zoom, fit to window, flip and redo are also predefined, as well as OS operations for Windows 7. An application programming interface is also provided for developers wanting to define specific gestures for their application programs.

A control panel launched from the system tray allows users to customize all settings, and features short video tutorials demonstrating how gesture recognition works with specific workflows. Contextual pop-up tips also explain specific Scrybe capabilities and how to use them.