Japanese company runs big multi-touch display running Android OS

July 7, 2011 by Dave Haynes

The Japanese company SKR Technology has developed a demo multi-touch system that runs the Android on a 32? display – another sign that the user experience people now have on smartphones is making the jump to much larger screens for digital signage applications.

Reports Akihabara News:

Running off a regular Android terminal which is connected via USB to the touch sensors, and HDMI to the display port, it perfectly replicates the android interface and can also display Full HD video.

“Our company makes digital signage, and people were asking us to create a large screen device which has multi-touch functionality like a smartphone. We first tried to make it using Windows 7, but it didn’t meet the needs of our customers. They said they wanted crisp, fluid movement like in a smartphone but with a high resolution display. But when we asked touch panel and peripheral manufacturers they said they don’t support the Android OS, so we were temporarily stalled. We want to do a lot more work with Android in the future, so we decided to develop the system ourselves.”

SKR developed their own device driver for Android in order to achieve a large, multi-touch display, and that is what is used in this device.

In addition to a 32? version, they are currently planning a wide variety of screen sizes in the ramp up to commercialization, with a 23?, 46? and wide screen versions in mind.

The site is all in Japanese so it is hard to determine what is what. It LOOKS like the firm developed its own gadgetry to make a link between a tablet-like device and the screen, and that is collectively what is pushing the screen and handling the touch interaction. It’s also not clear (unless I missed it) whether this is Android 2.2 (or so) or the Android 3 that is more intended for tablets.

One way or another, the days of this sector being a Windows business with some Linux and Mac OS here and there are dwindling. The build price on tablets is getting pretty low and this OS is free and has a huge developer base.