BumpTop adds multitouch interface for Windows 7 computers (get free codes)

September 30, 2009 | Dean Takahashi | Comments | |

bumptopWindows 7 will come with a cool multitouch user interface, allowing you to touch the screen of your computer and perform actions with simple gestures.

gesturesBut it looks like BumpTop is going to make that multitouch functionality really useful. We’ve noted before how BumpTop brings a 3-D view to your Windows desktop, making it easier to manage a big pile of files and other tasks in your inbox. Now you can use BumpTop as a multitouch user interface.

This video below shows how you can crop pictures, simply by tapping on them, stretching them out, and cutting off the parts you don’t want with simple hand gestures. You can do things like pan and zoom, using two fingers, much like you can do with the iPhone. You can spread something out or pinch to make it shrink. If you double tap on something such as a picture, you zoom in on the object. You can shift your focus to one of the side walls in the BumpTop 3-D interface. You can pull down with two fingers on the back wall to focus on it. You can also rotate to go to the other side walls. The complete suite of multitouch gestures is included in the paid version, BumpTop Pro.

The 1.2 version of BumpTop is going to make Windows 7 machines stand out from their boring Windows Vista predecessors, and that could be good for the expected revival of PC demand coming this fall. BumpTop says that the new gestures for Windows 7 have patents pending. Some of the gestures are illustrated in the drawing. It looks like we’re not all that far away from the user interface that Tom Cruise used in the film Minority Report. Windows 7 goes on sale on Oct. 22. The company has shared 200 free codes for access to its premium BumpTop Pro version. Click here.

Next Story: This is what Google divorce is like: Apple bought its own mapping company in July
Previous Story: GetJar launches easy-branding mobile app installer

Bookmark and Share

Tags:

Photo of Dean Takahashi

About the Author, Dean Takahashi

Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • jhasner
    This may indeed be cool...but it assumes users are going to interact in the BumpTop 3D desktop interface. This is a big assumption. Who uses their desktop anymore? And who wants a heavy, sluggish software layer running on top of Windows 7 just to organize desktop documents and files in a cool but ultimately non-intuitive 3D interface. When you actually consider the use cases, this is just another eye candy toy that will have limited use and application.
  • frogpad
    This Multi Touch application can then use the Multi Touch User Interface, SoftFrog, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te9O8HavQpQ
  • Satish Medos
    Hey thanks for the giveaway ! bumptop is kool !
  • Jayson
    This is the sh*t! I've been playing with it for an hour now...and am wondering when MS is gonna buy out BT and integrate it into windows...cause $30 is a bit steep for eyecandy.
  • Shade
    "When you actually consider the use cases, this is just another eye candy toy that will have limited use and application."
    Pretty much. I've had it for 24 hours, wasted a lot of time on it mucking around, and been thoroughly unproductive. I have an exceptional system, so the memory usage (while vast) is not a problem for me, but you're right. Pretty much useless.
    Still fun though :p

    Integrated games would be cool, but I think the best thing for this would be to expand it to the entire computer. Every directory and subdirectory. Of course this would use even more resources :/