Synergynet: not, in fact, making the evil robots of the future, but multi-touch interfaces for schools

My first thought on reading the name was that the name sounded suspiciously like SkyNet (who are best known for building homicidal kill-bots), but Synergynet are actually responsible for developing the SynergyNet Multi-touch Desk system, a touch-based user interface aimed at schools. It looks rather impressive, allowing users to use both hands and all 10 fingers to grab and manipulate on-screen content. It appears to be completely intuitive and the interface style should be familiar to anyone who’s used an iPhone, the difference here being that the touch screen could make IT accessible to people with no experience of the standard keyboard/mouse style of interaction with computers. In terms of higher education, touch screen technology could provide greater accessibility for students with physical or learning disabilities, whilst also providing an interesting way of letting students interact with visual or collaborative lesson content. Here’s a demo:

There’s a better video here on Lumin’s website, if you can forgive the budget-Pet Shop Boys backing music.