Slashgeo

There are numerous reports on day 1 of the ESRI User Conference. Here are some interesting reading. Read the summary of the Senior Executive seminar, including news from Harvard, going back to geography, and the ongoing debate on free data. The new features in ArcGIS 9.2 can be found here and are listed by Spatially Adjusted. See also ArcGIS Server and Jack Dangermond vision, ESRI's president. Anything Geospatial also have an informative summary. Of course, Very Spatial have their Roadshow podcast rolling. Don't miss Jeff Thurston's long article on the User Conference: "Bottomline: The system has been refined. From surveyor's needs to image analysis to real-ime geovisualisation and animation - ArcGIS is ready to deliver."

Here are some additionnal readings on the ESRI User Conference. Very Spatial continued their podcast coverage. GIS User has some pictures and description of the exhibition hall. Spatially Adjusted adds comments on ArcGIS Explorer. Anything Geospatial discuss usability enhancements of ArcGIS 9.2.

Ogle Earth shows a video of an impressive touch screen GUI for Google Earth and NASA World Wind. It is similar to ESRI's TouchTable mentioned last year. From this article: "Until now, the touch screen has been limited to the uninspiring sort found at an ATM or an airport ticket kiosk--basically screens with electronic buttons that recognize one finger at a time. Han's touch display, by contrast, redefines the way commands are given to a computer: It uses both movement and pressure--from multiple inputs, whether 2 fingers or 20--to convey information to the silicon brain under the display." And yes, when you think of it, the iPhone has such an interface. We're getting there fast.

I admit this is not yet geospatially related, but remember these tabletop geographic data visualization tools?, well, Microsoft just announced Surface, a new product which will undoubtly have an impact on geospatial data visualization. The three 1-minute demos show most of what there is to know, one also show local searches through Virtual Earth. You can also learn a little more from CNET. Update: 05/30 13:03 GMT by S : APB links to a Mercury News longer article.

Google Earth Blog has a bullet on this upcoming feature. From their summary : "It appears Google Earth will be the application everyone will use to show off their new multi-touch screens when they first introduce them. Check out this story from engadget and you can see how sexy Google Earth looks on this large 52-inch screen. Try to look at the screen, not the show girl demonstrating it."

For more information about this and the link to see it in action, head on over to the Google Earth Blog.

A colleague sent me a CNET article about Hitachi's new StarBoard interactive surface showcasing Google Earth. Slashdot also discusses the technology. This type of technology has been discussed a few times in the past, specifically the ESRI's TouchTable, Microsoft's Surface and others working with NASA World Wind. From the article: "The surface itself is simply a rigid board. At the top there are two cameras that track the movement of your hands. These work independently of each other, so the device is essentially multi-touch. What amazed us is how easy to use the whole system was. It took no real instruction to get us playing with it. Using Google Earth with it was a treat. There was also a photo app, which was clearly just there to illustrate the multi-touch capabilities of the system." Update: 01/22 16:24 GMT by S : Slowly catching up geonews, closely related is Google's touchEarth Summer of Code project (link includes video) which sends touchlib/OpenTouch finger gesture events to the TUIO protocol. There's also the LG-Philips 52-inch multi-touch screen worth a mention.

The VerySpatial blog has an article and video showcasing the concept. From their summary : "Two University of Augsberg students, Benjamin Mayer and Martin Spengler, have developed a hemispherical touch display surface they call Sensisphere. Think Microsoft Surface, TouchTable, and other gesture-based displays, only curved. As the guys from Gizmodo point out, it really looks great when used for digital globe applications like Google Earth."

To watch the video, please visit the VerySpatial blog.