Goose lets you build multitouch games and applications in Flash. It provides an online emulator system that supplies your Flash application with multitouch data in the form of manyML – a simple XML language (see http://manyml.wordpress.com). You use two or more computers – for example the machine you are testing on and a laptop. The mouse cursors represent fingers in your application.
Goose also provides a multitouch processing class to handle multiple cursor touching, pressing, dragging and resizing.
GOOSE STEPS
- Create your Flash application with a document class
- Connect to GooseData to receive multitouch data
- Connect to Goose and send it the data from GooseData
- Go to the Mouse Node Web pages from two or more computers
- Each mouse acts like a finger in your application!
- Alternatively, send Goose real multitouch data (device or blobs)
- Use Goose events to capture press information from any touch
- Use Goose methods to drag and resize just like multitouch apps!
An advantage of the Goose system is that it lets you work with multitouch without a multitouch device or blob detection table. All you need is your regular computer and a spare computer such as a laptop. Each mouse represents a touch.
Develop and test your multitouch applications with just Flash and a browser!
The online Goose Multitouch Emulator Mouse Nodes are powered by Robin – the Multiuser System that is also part of Flash Feathers. You are welcome and perhaps encouraged to use your own version of Robin if you get heavily into production with Goose.
GOOSE FEATURES
- Reads either Goose Emulator data or real multitouch data
- Capture any TOUCH, TOUCH_DOWN, TOUCH_UP, TOUCH_MOVE
- Capture any PRESS, PRESS_DOWN, PRESS_UP, PRESS_MOVE on an clip
- Capture PICK_UP and PUT_DOWN on items – receive cursor information
- Move clips using DRAG_LOCKED, DRAG_OVERRIDE, DRAG_AVERAGE
- Scale clips using REGISTRATION_CENTER, AVERAGE or POINT
Please have a look at the VIDEO page and the sample CODE page for more information about Goose. You can download the code through the link at the left on http://gooseflash.wordpress.com.
FRIENDS AND DONATIONS
Please let us know if you use Goose and we will add you to the Friends area at left. If you use Goose for a commercial venture and would care to donate that would be super!
FEATHERS
Goose is one of a selection of open source solutions called Flash Feathers available at http://flashfeathers.wordpress.com.
Dan Zen
-09-
Filed under: Press Release | Tagged: "multiple cursors", adobe, applications, blob, cursor, dan zen, feathers, flash, games, goose, multitouch, open source, platform, system, tool
I think this is great (as any of the other Flash Feathers)… the idea of having multi-touch available in flash is great.
BUT right now… I don’t see it happening. The emulator does a great job EMULATING…. but being realistic no one is going to get a second laptop or computer to make this work…
I was thinking if it is possible to make more than one mouse working on a single computer and found some interesting links:
1. http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/11/22/install-multiple-mouse-and-keyboard-on-one-computer/
2. http://cpnmouse.sourceforge.net/
3. http://www.multimice.com/
The first one is an interesting application that works! the problem is: You have multiple cursors on your screen (one for each mouse plugged into the computer) BUT only one of them has the “control”… that means that you are not using multiple mice at the same time, you have them there and you have to take control of the screen to be able to interact with the screen. That rules out multi touch.
The second one is a project that has been abandoned. Armando (classmate) gave me the link and I tried it myself. It seems that it gives you the “drivers” to have multiple mice on your PC but you have to develop the software to capture the data. (is there hope?)
The final one is a very interesting implementation of having 32 mice working on one computer to teach kids. The idea is great! But you have to buy the hardware that allows you to plug in multiple mice and from the comments it looks like it is expensive.
Out there, there are a lot of multi touch gadgets, the new bamboo tablet is one I’m interested in buying myself… BUT is it possible to make it work with this multi touch application… [Dan] are you up for the task to try an make it work?…..
Thanks for the reply and the thoughts. With respect to the second lap top – I think most developers have a couple computers around. It is easier to find a second computer than a blob detection table, etc. Although, if you visit http://dodoflash.wordpress.com you can pretty quickly make Goose work with a couple flashlights… Still, I find the two mouses gives better control and are faster to work with. Remember, this is just for developing – you then swap the emulator data for real multitouch and the Goose events will still work, etc. Thanks for the links to the single computer possible solutions. Some may work with Flash player 10.1 and CS5… looking forward to it!
Goose reminded me of an old TV fund-raising campaign for Parkinson’s disease. It was on either CBC or TVO when I was a kid. Maybe you remember — an elderly man’s hand trying to put a puzzle piece in place, but unable to, until a child’s steady hand guides it. Perhaps a practical application to consider for Goose-like technology.
http://robotsbuildingrobots.wordpress.com/
Hi Dan,
It terrific to see goose is helping blurring the line between traditionally and interactive technology. As we progress thorough the years it will become more of an input free technology around us and getting a jump start on the development is massively helpful. With flash cs5 you will be able to develop on the apple iPhone, which make goose type of technology more and more relevant. The comments through out the code made it easy to navigate and understand things piece by piece. Now if only PC computer came with multi-mouse pointer. Thanks very much Dan.
-Kamran Ahmed
This multi-touch technology is really fascinating as well as cool. You’re seeing a lot of this technology come out in children’s toys, anywhere from music playing Crayola drawings through the use of a board that detects the touch of the Crayola on it’s surface to more obvious things like games on the iPod touch.
Downloading these classes and getting them to run wasn’t as tough as diving into the code itself, ideally I’ll have more time to dig into it and feature animation sounds to go along with the motions. This would be an awesome feature for children’s games, as the sounds would be the games to life. I’m thinking along the lines of having children drag with their fingers to enlarge say picture of animals and as they drop them into say a toy-bin it would say the name of the animal, like “This is a Giraffe, Goodbye Giraffe” – simply to reinforce learning of more complicated words, and not to mention word association through the use of pictures and most importantly learning through interactivity.
I’ll have to conquer this lil beast to eventually manipulate it to do what I want to it too – time permitting! Thanks Dan for creating this very useful tool!
Very interesting!
I wanted to try making an object that would drag slowly, but would be moved faster if it was being dragged by more touches, but I think that would involve breaking open the Goose class and fiddling around in there rather than using the drag methods you’ve already provided.
Might just be able to make the damping parameter of the startFollow a public variable so you can adjust that on the fly.
Goose! Goose! Goose! thanks for this Dan. Lots of fun… a little challenging at first but the end results were worth it.
Hi Dan,
I really liked the experience of using Goose. I found that it is usefull to be really in control of the scale properties of the images you use when resizing them with Goose. It will help you prevent a pain in the neck.
It is just a little taste of what multitouch is and now I want more of it. Great work with Goose and specially with Robin.
Armando
Goose can be really fun to play with if you can get it working. Getting the server connected so that multiple users can play with it was a little tricky but Goose makes it really easy to create simple games between two players. It makes you feel as if you are reaching inside the computer screen to pick up the objects you placed. It sure is Interactive and can go in many different directions.
Hi Dan,
Working with Goose was an exciting experience. The Goose (Multitouch emulator) has made it so easy to work with Multitouch technology in Flash without the use of complex Multitouch screens.
It was wonderful to use features like enlarging and moving around objects that actually made me relate to science fiction movies such as Minority Report and TV productions like CSI: Miami.
As the use of this technology is increasing rapidly with many MultiTouch interface products and applications being developed, the future seems to be very bright for the technology. It was great working with Goose.
Thanks!
Although I always tend to look at the benefits of these classes towards online gaming. I think Goose would be a fine environment if stable enough to provide for multitouch games. Who said family game night is canceled because Dad is half way across the world on a business trip. Load of the Goose (game applet) Parcheesi anyone?