TouchBook Touch User Interface (TUI) to be used by NASA

Somatic Digital announced today that it will provide NASA Goddard Flight Center with its TouchBook Touch User Interface (TUI) platform. The TUI is to the printed page what the Graphic User Interface (GUI) is to the computer screen. It is an open convergence technology that enables readers of normally printed materials to touch the page and retrieve digital content or launch communication applications on a computer. Currently, the TUI can retrieve digital content and launch communication applications via Windows XP or Mac OS X. The functions that can be driven from a web page can also be conducted from a printed page.

The TUI enables a bridge over the digital divide because it eliminates barriers that previously prevented people from connecting to digital content.

The TUI enables books to be customized to prescriptively meet the particular needs of the reader. Properly designed TUI-based TouchBooks should meet the requirements outlined in the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) and the inclusive learning requirements of laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Act, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1979.

According to Jason E. Barkeloo, President, Somatic Digital, “We are pleased to provide our technology to NASA. Their vision and commitment to providing printed and digital science content to everyone in a universally designed way makes them an ideal customer for the TUI technology.” The terms of the contract were not disclosed.