Come on & Touch Me, Baby! Teen Creates Home made Touch Screen

Teen creates multi-touch computer screen May 30th, 2008 @ 10:15pm

An Orem, Utah, teenager's science project has caught the eye of Apple engineers. The student built a multi-touch screen, on his own, in just a couple of months.

Seventeen-year-old Bridger Maxwell made the multi-touch display in his bedroom. He says, "It's like a touch screen, but instead of using just one finger to poke things, you can use all of your fingers at once to use stretching and rotating."

"I just wanted to make one a regular person could afford," Maxwell said. His cost about $400 to make, and it's compatible with Macs.

If you have an iPhone, you're familiar with the multi-touch concept. But iPhones aren't really meant to be your main computer and can only register up to three touches. Maxwell's screen can register up to 100!

"Multi-touch is the future. The mouse and the keyboard has had too long of a reign, it's time to de-throne them," he said.

Maxwell's multi-touch screen won the science fair at his school, then at the district and regional level. Last week, he was in Georgia for the International Science Fair and won 4th place. This isn't just a hobby for this teenager, it's his dream. He says, "I'd like to create some really cool software that will make people think, ‘Whoa, I want one of those!'"

E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com