Named as Time Magazine's 2008 listing of the 100 Most Influential People in The World, Jeff Han is one of the main developers of "multi-touch sensing," which unlike older touch-screen interfaces, is able to recognize multiple points of contact. Although the use of touchscreen technology to control electronic devices pre-dates multitouch technology and the personal computer, IBM began experimenting with touch screens as early as the 1960s. Over the years, multi-touch technology has seamlessly seeped into popular culture, with Star Trek and Tron being the most prominent. (The Day the Earth Stood Still was the most recent movie which used Microsoft's Surface program). Currently, CNN has been the most innovative user of multi-touch with its "magic wall," which received most of its publicity because of its use by news network CNN during its coverage of the 2008 US Presidential election.
What does this mean for the future of information technology? Let's take a look at Han's use of the keyboard. With new technologies such as augmented reality and locative media, human cognition itself may revolutionized and re-engineered.
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