The Razorfish EE team has been kicking the tires on Windows 7 for almost a year prior to product launch. With great success we’ve been running the Razorfish Touch Framework (RTF) on Windows 7 across a number of multi-touch displays. Recently our Neue Digitale office in Germany had the opportunity to port the Audi Configurator Surface experience to Windows 7 for the Windows 7 launch event. Utilizing the RTF, the team was able to bring the Microsoft Surface experience to Windows 7 in under a week. This makes the Audi Configurator, not only the first Windows 7 multi-touch application on the German market, but also a tool which is hardware independent and can be installed on a variety of multi-touch enabled devices.

We also had the opportunity to test drive with an experimental multi-touch hardware device named “dreaMTouch” manufactured by Elektrosil Systeme der Elektronik GmbH for the Windows 7 launch. We recently worked with the device for the DMEXCO (Digital Marketing Exposition Conference) in Germany where we showcased the Razorfashion application and our other multi-touch experiences. The device supports an incredible 32 simultaneous touches on a 46″ screen. The device itself only measures a few inches thick. The dreaMTouch is now available for purchase.

Check out more pictures of the Windows 7 Launch Event featuring the Audi Car Configurator.

We’ve been busy traveling the globe demonstrating our touch experiences. The reaction from clients and the industry has been great – we’ve met some wonderful people along the way. Recently we were at the Microsoft Vendor Fair showing our Surface and vertical multi-touch experiences. With the Windows 7 release, the excitement within Microsoft is understandable. Much like our other clients, we’re working with Microsoft in realizing the potential of touch related experiences from a sales and marketing perspective. To see evidence of this look no further than the Microsoft retail store.

Razorfashion goes international. We jumped at a chance to support our Neue Digitale team in Germany at DMEXCO (Digital Marketing Exposition Conference). To support the effort, we’ve been working with a company in Germany on an experimental multi-touch device named dreaMTouch. Once we figured out how to get the pre-release device through customs, we were able to integrate the hardware with the Microsoft-based Razorfish Touch Framework in under a day. Since integrating with the hardware was so easy, we decided to feature the Razorfashion application during the conference as well.

Our team has developed an application built on the new Razorfish Touch Framework called Razorfashion. It demonstrates how we believe retailers can meet shoppers growing expectations for more engaging digital experiences in-store and provide a consistent, integrated experience across the multi-channel shopping ecosystem.

Watch the above video as we walk you through the Razorfashion experience.

See it. Love it. Share it. Find it.

model photo credit: *katanaz-stock

Check out the above technology demonstration of the multi-touch Virtual Earth control and the Razorfish Touch Framework. This video demonstrates a weather experience and the cross-platform capabilities of the framework on Microsoft Surface or other touch-enabled devices.

At the 2009 Razorfish Client Summit, the Emerging Experiences group announced the availability of the Razorfish Touch Framework. This framework allows for rapid development of rich and engaging touch-based experiences. These experiences can be deployed across a variety of hardware platforms allowing for re-use of code and content.

We have been using the framework on a number of confidential client projects and internal prototypes since early 2009. For the client summit, we were given the opportunity to create a touch experience, we named “Razorfashion,” using the framework and targeted the experience towards the fashion industry. This application is an easily customizable and deployable fashion retail solution which also serves to demonstrate the capabilities of the framework to the public. Be sure to check out the video of the Razorfashion experience. Check back soon for videos and posts about our other cross-platform, multi-touch experiences.

The Razorfish Touch Framework runs on Windows XP and Vista – there is no need to wait for the availability of native multi-touch support in Windows 7. The framework is built on Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and provides a core set of touch-enabled controls to jump-start touch-based application development. The complexities of interfacing with specific touch hardware platforms is handled by the framework, allowing the designers and developers to focus on creating rich, engaging next-generation touch experiences.

The following platforms are currently supported:

• Microsoft Surface
• NextWindow
• N-trig
• Single-touch (Elo, single-touch capacitive, mouse & HID-based hardware)
• TUIO-based custom multi-touch hardware (touch wall, table top)
• Multi-point “touchless” platforms

The cross-platform support of the framework is an industry first. Stay tuned for future videos and posts showing the framework in action.

model photo credit: *katanaz-stock