[squeakland] Etoys on an interactive whiteboard?

David Corking lists at dcorking.com
Sat Feb 26 06:03:21 EST 2011


Bert Freudenberg wrote:

> But as far as I know, Smartboard only emulates a multi-button mouse, not a
> multi-touch device. If you know otherwise, what protocol are they using?

As far as open protocols you are probably correct.

The latest SMART brand products apparently support multiple simultaneous users.

http://www.smarttech.com/us/Support/Browse+Support/Product+Index/Hardware+Products/Front+Projection+SMART+Board+Interactive+Whiteboard/800ix+system

However (a) these won't be common in schools for many years and (b) I
imagine applications need to use SMART's proprietary API (called
'Digital Ink' I think): at least there is no mention otherwise in the
user guide I downloaded.

(Maybe users of other brands of board have more luck. I conclude that
mouse emulation by proprietary boards  is the lowest common factor,
and for that reason it is useful to investigate.)

I have a single touch tablet computer with a 75 mm (3 inch) screen
that I will experiment with one day - though I think it will never be
practical for Etoys to support  a finger on such a tiny screen. Stylus
operation is reasonable.

Netbook tablets with open protocols are probably the most important. I
imagine we will get open protocols from the XO 1.75 and XO 3 :
presumably commercial pressure will grow for other hardware vendors to
support that protocol. Multiplayer activities on a single tablet
screen may not be fertile ground to plough.

David


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