desktop digital imaging with multi-touch

Working with small screens and a mouse plus keyboard combination is the current state of art when it comes to image editing. This can be problematic in a number of ways, especially when working in a team. Also, it is not natural to use a mouse to draw and edit images. Multi-touch image editing uses a natural flow and offers a bigger, detailed view of the image at hand. We used hand gestures in combination with a »magic pencil« as an additional tool for working. This pen helps the user to cut out objects and draw fine lines with a familiar device.

Furthermore, we used a bigger display with a screen diagnoal of 50″ (100 x 70 cm) in order to give users better oversight over their work. In addition to that, the size allows for multiuser usage of the image editing application, e.g. for creating a complex collage. The table concept has a flexible pitch and height which makes the construction ergonomically adjustable to every function of use. The picture itself is the the central element of our GUI. Menu bars and other interface elements are only displayed when they are needed.

Every UI element is fully configurable. For the layer view we developed a 3D perspective view called the »overhead transparencies« metaphor. By pushing up the image, the layer mode will be activated giving the user access to every single image layer and adjustment layer. For accessing the »image library« the user just has to push the whole picture to the left side. A matrix of all pictures appears allowing the user to save and load pictures via drag and drop.