Jonathan: Hey, what’s going on, haven’t talked to you in a while. Interesting take on Photoshop. What grabs my attention based on what you’ve said, is people love to paint on Surface… and other platforms w/ touch. The freeform aspect makes it a lot of fun. However in Photoshop, as you mention, it’s not about gross manipulation, so you would have to solve the fat-finger issue depending on the task (as you point out some methods). It’s all about the situation & context. For some tasks in Photoshop, a stylus would be best, others a mouse, others a finger. It’s a fascinating problem to think how you move between those in a single app.

To that end, have you or anyone else run across a matrix of sorts that clearly illustrates the known strengths and weaknesses of the various input mechanisms you mentioned? This could come in very handy for interaction designers to be able to quickly show other stakeholders the more or less promising approaches to take.

I completely agree with you about the the limitations of multitouch. It has been bandied about as the saviour to everything…yet there are intense fatigue issues related to tabletop and wall mounted solutions.

I do question Photoshop as an example of a poor application, though…Especially when used with a mirrored monitor.

Most interaction in Photoshop isn’t gross manipulation. It is pretty precise and there are a number of ways to handle these issues, ranging from a virtual “banjo pick” to a magnifier window.

There are a number of tasks that involve moving one’s arm across a screen, such as drawing long lines. For the most part, these issues can be solved through an efficient paradigm for window sizing, a bimanual interface and a strong contextual menu system that is designed to provide palm support. It’s a shame that these components didn’t make it into the first rev. of the Surface SDK. Showing the potential for productivity apps would have significantly affected market adoption.

Today, concept illustrators often will shrink windows in Photoshop to increase the accuracy of their linework when they make strokes.

One aspect of NUI that could make Photoshop really shine is the manipulation of curves. Recently, my team has had great success with a demo that manipulates and animates manipulates volatility surfaces.

Hope all is well.
~Jonathan

Totally agree on the comment that people *can forget inadequacies at first with new technology, but as it settles in, they become more critical. My issue is I don’t want touch to be discarded because of its flaws as the technology becomes more pervasive. It’s a great method of interaction, it just should be treated in the proper way.

The statement that something can be so compelling, people will forget the inadequacies, is applicable to a lot of new technologies. I believe it’s partially true. When something new emerges, which is perceived as being ‘really cool’, people forget about inadequaceis. Though this is only temporary. Once it’s a bit more established people start viewing it from a more critical perspective.

I’m looking forward to your future posts.