Multi-Touch Technology Native on Linux

One of the cool new features introduced by the iPhone is the ability to use two fingers simultaneously to manipulate screen objects. For example, while viewing a picture, you can zoom in or zoom out by touching the screen with two fingers and moving them apart or closer together.

Now a team at ENAC in Toulouse, France, has added native multi-touch support to Linux. They have modified the Linux kernel 2.6.30 to faciliate multi-touch functionality so that it works on any Linux platform, independent of the window manager. The developers anticipate that this technology will be integrated into Android, the Linux operating system developed by Google for cell phones and other mobile devices.

The group implemented a demo that shows how simple finger movements are recognized by the software, and used to perform user interface functions, such as rotating the cube of the 3D window manager Compiz Fusion.

The group has posted a video of the demo on their web site. There is also information about the source code, which you can download, and the touch screen hardware required to get the demo going