FingerWorks was a

gesture recognition Gesture recognition is an area of research and development in computer science and language technology concerned with the recognition and interpretation of human gestures. A subdiscipline of computer vision, it employs mathematical algorithms to ...

company based in the

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, known mainly for its TouchStream

multi-touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one somatosensory system, point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CE ...

keyboard. Founded by John Elias and Wayne Westerman of the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in 1998, it produced a line of

products including the iGesture Pad and the TouchStream keyboard, which were particularly helpful for people suffering from RSI and other medical conditions. The keyboards became the basis for the

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

touchscreen A touchscreen (or touch screen) is a type of electronic visual display, display that can detect touch input from a user. It consists of both an input device (a touch panel) and an output device (a visual display). The touch panel is typically l ...

when the company's assets were acquired by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

in early 2005.

History

Westerman was working on a dissertation on chord-based manipulation with a multi-touch surface while a doctoral student at the University of Delaware. He and Elias, a professor in his department, started FingerWorks while he was finishing his dissertation, which formed the basis for some of the company's products. Westerman developed repetitive stress problems while finishing his dissertation, which inspired active focus on low-impact inputs. Fingerworks Touchstream keyboard

The company's products remained a high-end niche, and something of a curiosity, despite good press and industry awards. In early 2005, FingerWorks went through a rocky period, and stopped shipping new products or responding actively to support requests. While they updated their support forums between April and June with new information, outside reports indicated that they had been acquired by a major technology company. This company turned out to be Apple, which acquired the company's patents and other intellectual property along with Elias and Westerman. The technology was used to create the

Apple iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphone, smartphones developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The iPhone (1st generation), first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and ...

which launched in 2007. In June 2005, FingerWorks officially announced they were no longer in business. The founders continued to file and process patents for their work through late 2007. As of August 2008 they still filed patents for

Apple, Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Com ...

Products

*TouchStream LP – a full-sized, folding split keyboard, with a flat membrane and zero-force keys. The entire keyboard surface has multitouch support that converts finger movements of different combinations of fingers into mouse and macro events. It comes with chording modes for graphics, Emacs, and gaming. *:Surface inclination: 0-10 degrees; Adjustable split angle & separation *:Active area: Weight: *TouchStream Mini – a one-hand keyboard + mouse keypad, with 15mm keys (75% normal size). Active area: *MacNTouch – a double-width multitouch surface originally made to physically replace the keyboard in compatible Apple laptops. Also appeared in an enclosure to be used as a separate device, under the name Digitouch. *iGesture Pad – a one-hand gesture pad for mousing and gestures. Active area: *iGesture NumPad – like the iGesture Pad but with

numeric keypad A numeric keypad, number pad, numpad, or ten key, is the calculator-style group of ten numeric keys accompanied by other keys, usually on the far right side of computer keyboard. This grouping allows quick number entry with right hand, ...

, PgUp/Dn etc., and

arrow keys Arrow keys or cursor movement keys are keys on a computer keyboard that are either programmed or designated to move the cursor (computers), cursor in a specified direction. The term "cursor movement key" is distinct from "arrow key" in that th ...

superimposed. *iGesture Retro – a one-hand gesture pad embedded into a full-size Microsoft keyboard

References

External links

* {{apple 1998 establishments in Delaware 2005 disestablishments in Delaware 2005 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1998 American companies disestablished in 2005 Apple Inc. acquisitions Companies based in New Jersey Computer companies established in 1998 Computer companies disestablished in 2005 Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Defunct software companies of the United States Gesture recognition