A group of researchers from Osaka University, Japan recently demonstrated a new software interface in which a user fluidly scrolls and crunches up an image as the user manipulates the surface of a touch screen computer display.
The demonstration in the video below shows a researcher sweeping and swiping his fingers across a google map. Usually a map on a screen has an edge or border, but in this instance parts of the content are distorted to keep them within the screen. This allows the user to navigate within a seemingly endless or edgeless map while keeping in mind the parts of the map that were originally on the screen.
I have to admit to being somewhat confused by this new advance since it would seem to me to be a software invention rather than a whole new type of display technology. But the demonstrator says in the video:
"Because this interface can be easily added to any software, it can be used on all kinds of devices. You can use it on the iPhone and the iPod touch, and it could also be used with larger screens."
