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The Potential Health Risks of Multitouch Devices
Multitouch user input is the current “latest big thing” in mobile computing. With the runaway popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPad, and the company’s pioneering multitouch laptop trackpads now being busily copied across the industry, some suggest that multitouch devices will soon displace the traditional mouse.

However, revolutions in user input technology can result in unforeseen consequences, an emblematic example being the spike in repetitive stress injury that resulted from the switch from traditional “springy,” raked typewriter keyboards to flatter, often “clicky,” and frequently hard-landing, computer keyboards back in the ’80s.

Analogically, little is yet known about long-term stresses that using multitouch input systems may inflict on our muscles, nerves, and tendons.

Arizona State University Biomedical Informatics Department assistant professor Kanav Kahol is team leader of a research project to measure the amount of stress placed on hands and wrists of individuals using multitouch electronic devices like Apple’s iPad. Researchers will use cyber-gloves to measure kinematic phenomena produced in users interacting with multitouch systems with finger-flick gestures.

Prof. Kahol’s team, supported by a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, includes computer interaction researchers, kinesiologists and ergonomic experts from both ASU and Harvard University, engaged in developing a tool kit that could be used by designers as they design and refine new multitouch systems.

The ASU project’s aim is to develop best practices and standards for human/machine interface interactions that are safe and cause minimal user stress, while allowing users to fully benefit from the new levels of immersion that multitouch interaction facilitates.

“We Are All Part of a Large Experiment”

"When we use our iPhone or iPad, we don't naturally think that it might lead to a musculoskeletal disorder," says Prof. Kahol commenting in an ASU media release. "But the fact is it could, and we don't even know it. We are all part of a large experiment. Multitouch systems might be great for usability of a device, but we just don't know what it does to our musculoskeletal system."

In a project abstract, Prof. Kanol notes that the researchers’ principal focus will lie in developing a methodology and process for selecting ergonomically appropriate gestures and mapping them relative to tasks employed in human computer interaction, such as the multitouch technology that has reached maturity in products like the iPhone.

Prof. Kahol observes that as we move toward a world where human-computer interaction is based on various body movements that are not well documented or studied, we face “serious and grave risk” of creating technology and systems that may lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), and that many of today's multitouch systems give no consideration to eliminating gestures already known to lead to MSD injuries, or to eliminating gestures that are symptomatic of a patient population.

For example, he points out that the gesture for zoom function with the iPhone is exactly the same gesture used for detection of Parkinsons disease (PD), since people in early stages of PD can’t execute this gesture, which means that iPhones are not usable by PD patients or people who may go on to develop PD — just one example on how gestures wrongly chosen for multitouch interaction can alienate certain populations or cause muscle fatigue and other ergonomic issues. Kanov contends that it is important to address this issue before we create another man-made diseases like carpal tunnel syndrome — which he calls “a hallmark of bad interaction design.”

The overall methodology to develop ergonomic gestures involves development of accurate multi-digit hand movement simulations that can predict muscle fatigue due to gestures. This enables developers to select a vocabulary of gestures that can be mapped onto task hierarchies derived through task analysis.

The project’s initial focus will to evaluate the impact multitouch devices have on the human musculoskeletal system. Users will be fitted with electromyography (EMG) equipment to measure muscle forces, and cyber-gloves to measure kinematic features produced while users interact with multitouch systems. Researchers will then evaluate the impact of those stresses.

Part two of the study will develop biomechanical models where users will be able to, as Prof. Kahol explains, "enter the motion of a gesture, and the system will produce the forces being exerted through that motion, like a specific movement of the hand. We would then take this data back to the Microsofts, the Apples and other manufacturers so they could use it when they are designing new devices."

The system the team develops is to be built with off-the-shelf components and provide device designers a new tool to use when developing new multitouch systems.

"The designers, the computer scientists, the programmers, they know little about biomechanical systems, they just want a system that they can employ in a usable manner and tells them if a gesture causes stress or not," says Kahol. "So our major challenge is going to be developing the software, the tool kit and the underlying models that will drive the tool kits." He notes that the last time designers developed a fundamental interaction system with computers they modified the standard keyboard — a transition that as noted above, was not without its share of drawbacks.

"When we developed the keyboard, we didn't think through how working with it would affect the hands, arms, etc.," Kahol said in a statement earlier this month. "As a result, it created a multimillion dollar industry in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. That is what we want to prevent with multitouch systems. We are going for the preventative, rather than the curative. Multitouch systems might be great for usability of a device, but we just don’t know what it does to our musculoskeletal system.”

Now, hopefully we will.

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iPhone 4: Big Lines & Short Supply
Across the globe, iPhone 4 eyewitnesses are all seeing the same thing: lines around the block and few, if any, devices for those without reservations.

In Durham, North Carolina, record-breaking temperatures near 100 degrees could not keep the faithful from lining up outside the local Apple Store. The line for the iPhone 4 began yesterday evening, reaching around the block by early this morning and remaining more or less constant with new arrivals. By noon, Apple Store employees were passing out umbrellas. There were no white umbrellas available either, and very few black iPhones for those without reservations.

Durham was not an anomaly.

As the earth turned, so did iPhone 4 sales, starting with Japan, followed by Germany, France, the UK, and then east to west in the U.S. In every country, in every city, the story was the same: demand outstripped supply. The dearth of white iPhones appears to have no measurable effect on sales.

Calls to stores, assuming you can get someone to pick up, also tell a similar story. Supplies of the iPhone 4 are dwindling, many stores expect to be sold out by the end of the day. While more iPhones are expected, no one knows when they will arrive. Expect an iPhone 4 availability page to appear on Apple’s website soon.

As for the iPhone 4 itself, satisfaction will likely be high, but there are reports of some issues. MacRumors was one of the first to report of “yellow blotching” on some iPhone 4 displays. There are conflicting reports as to whether this is a “residue from manufacturing” that will clear up in a few days, or a flaw that requires replacement. There are also scattered reports of reception degradation when holding the bottom left of the iPhone 4, though the supposed issue cannot be reliably duplicated.

These flaws, if they exist, will likely only matter to those who have successfully ordered an iPhone 4 or have one on reserve. For everyone else by far the biggest problem with the iPhone 4 is availability. It will be days, if not weeks, before Apple establishes equilibrium between supply and demand.

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Farmville Now On the iPhone
Those crops need harvesting! Social phenomenon Farmville is now available on the iPhone and iPod touch.

A portable iteration of Zynga’s popular farming simulation game was originally announced for Apple’s portables at this year’s WWDC, and the application is now available in all iTunes stores.

The farming game, which sees players buying and selling crops and livestock, made its debut on Facebook in June 2009; just last year, quickly rising to millions of players. At its absolute peak the game has attracted more than 85 million players, and now with the addition of a free app Zynga is no doubt hoping that figure will increase.

On the web, Farmville is strictly a Flash-only affair, but of course to debut on the iPhone developers Zynga had to create a non-Flash compatible version of the popular game. Its new 9.7MB iPhone friendly version of the farming simulation title works in a similar fashion to that of the online game, allowing gamers to access their same farm from Facebook and tend to their crops and animals.

New gamers will need a Facebook account to play, whereas existing players can simply login with their Facebook credentials. Once connected, any changes made on a players portable farm will be reflected on a users Facebook farm, and vice-versa. Those who do choose to download the app will find a range of new Farmville items available which are exclusive to iPhone and iPod Touch users, including a Snow Leopard.

The launch of the Farmville application comes at a good time for Zynga, as pointed out by Mashable, despite the games huge popularity the titles install base has seen a drop in recent months, losing nearly 10 million players in the last 30 days alone.

Do you already play FarmVille, and will you be downloading the new mobile version of the game? Or are you one of those who avoids social games like these at all costs to avoid Facebook notification insanity?

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Sponsor post: Sponsor post: iPads, Say Hello to Flash –- With LogMeIn Ignition
Beef up your iPad's capabilities with LogMeIn Ignition. With just a simple touch, you can control your work or home computer (Mac or PC) –- including your applications, files, emails and databases, even programs not supported by iPad or iPhone (ahem, Flash). It turns a cool multimedia touchscreen device into a really powerful business tool.

Case in point: A businesswoman has a website that can only be updated using Internet Explorer; with Ignition, she can access IE through her iPad to get the job done. Using it, she's managed her business remotely in coffee shops and while on the road. And her netbook has been gathering dust ever since.

Graphic designers can also keep doing business in a pinch. Everything on your work Mac can be accessed through your iPad, including your entire Adobe Creative Suite. While you wouldn't necessarily want to build full websites on your iPad (hmm, sounds like a challenge), you can access and update your creative work wherever you are.

And couch potatoes, rejoice. Seriously, we've heard from people who use their iPad to access their upstairs computer because they didn't want to get up. If you're lounging remotely, you can play Flash-based games located on your home computer from your iPad, or bring up your entire photo library located on your home computer for the in-laws to see.

So who says the iPad has limitations? Break the barriers with LogMeIn Ignition. It's fast, easy and secure, and makes a device that's already really cool, über cool.

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iPad Office Suites: Quickoffice or Documents To Go
When the iPad was announced, Steve touted the virtues of how wonderful it would be to have iWork on your iPad. We at TheAppleBlog were unimpressed with Pages, Numbers and Keynote. You can read the full reviews for details, but our primary complaints revolved around the difficulty of getting documents on and off the iPad and syncing with the cloud.

If all you want is iWork files primarily on your iPad, no need to look beyond the iWork Suite for the iPad. However, iPhone users have been working with their spreadsheets, documents, and presentations in the cloud for a while with the iPhone versions of Documents To Go and Quickoffice and got used to not being locked into the iWork file format. Now that the iPad versions of these apps are finally out, which one is right for you? Let’s review the features first.

Documents To Go

Documents to Go for the iPhone was recently updated to support the iPad. Previous owners merely need to update and have full functionality on both devices. Two versions exist: Documents To Go and Documents To Go Premium. The Premium version adds support for cloud computing as well as presentations.

To sync with your computer, Documents To Go provides a desktop application for Windows and Mac that allows you to transfer files to and from your iPad over your Wi-Fi network without actually having to connect your computer to iTunes. The premium cloud support includes Google, MobileMe, Dropbox, Box.net and SugarSync. While you can use multiple cloud accounts, you cannot customize the names.

Quickoffice HD

Unlike Documents To Go, this is a separate iPad app. Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite for iPad is focused exclusively on the cloud, but does allow uploading files to your iPad via a web interface. Access to files on Google, MobileMe, Dropbox, and Box.net are all included. Unlike Documents To Go, SugarSync support is not included. Quickoffice has support for password protection as well as customizing the cloud account names.

Feature Comparisons

Both programs access files from the cloud and are integrated with the Dropbox iPad app to allow direct transfer of files to either Documents To Go or Quickoffice. However, Quickoffice does a more fluid job of accessing the cloud by connecting automatically in the background and quickly giving you access. Documents To Go, on the other hand, requires you to manually sync, refreshing your cloud file listing in the foreground and preventing you from doing anything else while the sync is underway. Additionally, it didn’t respect Google’s hidden documents so I literally had to scroll through hundreds of hidden files. At least Documents To Go remembered recent files making subsequent visits to the app slightly less painful.

Editing and navigating files in Quickoffice seemed more like a desktop app. For example, spreadsheets retained page tabs at the bottom in Quickoffice while in Documents To Go I had to access the toolbar at the bottom and then choose which tab to activate. PDFs in Documents To Go do not allow scrolling in the document; you have to manually turn each page. Documents To Go also had a cryptic and unintuitive toolbar at the bottom (see example below).

Of the two programs, Documents To Go did do a better job of retaining the file formatting of the original document. Neither program did a 100 percent perfect job of retaining all formatting, though. Slight errors regarding font styles and sizing as well as spacing developed. I consider these problems minor since I see the primarily goal of editing on your iPad to be data entry and manipulation, not the look and feel of the document.

Verdict

For value, Documents To Go is an ideal choice. You can have access to your files on the iPhone and iPad with just one app. You can upgrade within the app to the Premium version for an extra $5 to get the presentation and cloud access. Users of SugarSync will have to choose this app if they want access via their iPad.

For most iPad users, Quickoffice is the better choice. Easy-to-use cloud support and quick loading of your files allows for fast editing while Documents To Go painfully makes you wait to sync back and forth. Be prepared for some quirkiness in formatting going back and forth between other apps, but otherwise you’ll have a user experience nearly identical to your desktop or web-based applications for spreadsheets, presentations and word processing.

And, yes, this article was written in both Documents to Go and Quickoffice on my iPad. I ultimately finished it with Quickoffice.

What’s your iPad office suite of choice?

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