Hey, you know who’d probably like multi-touch input?  Dogs, apparently.

That video reminded me of a little anecdote: Not long after I joined the Photoshop team, I was treated to the very unique experience of having Jeff Chien and Todor Georgiev (who really should start Todor & Jeff’s Image Science Hut) simultaneously trying to explain high-powered image science concepts in their respective accents (Taiwanese & Russian Bulgarian*, respectively). When I’d fail to grasp what one was saying, the other would get frustrated and break in–not exactly making things better (though not for lack of trying).  I was a little bewildered, bemused, and unable to believe that these guys would spend their time trying to educate me, of all people.

Anyway, Todor started to explain color matching by holding a CD on three fingers, saying, "It is like a table, you see?  You remove a leg, it becomes unstable…" He illustrated his points by explaining the human perceptual system, noting that whereas a person would respond to certain colors, "If I show this to a dog, the dog will not like it. I show it to a fish, the fish will not like." At that point I interrupted to say, "But Todor, we’ve already sold it to all the humans; dogs are our next target market!" "Okay okay," he replied, "You want dog version, I’ll give you dog version…"

So, do be careful what you wish for. 😉

PS–These Reactrix guys (of the dog/ball demo) have an interesting reel on their site, showing more applications of their technology.
* D’oh; Sorry, Todor, and thanks to Marc Pawliger for the correction.