According to researchers at the University of Calgary, big multi-touch screens will soon put work, play and communications at our fingertips.

The UofC and six other Canadian universities are working with industry associates to transform the technique by which people interact with computers, and each other.

Frank Maurer, SurfNet's Principal Investigator, said that the national research program, called SurfNet, will take touch-screen technology into homes, schools and offices.

Maurer said, "It's a very exciting time", and the five-year program will center on making new software for the screens.

On Monday, SurfNet was initiated at the UofC with a $5 million funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Saul Greenberg, a Professor of Computer Sciences at the University, said, "It's a chance to change the way people use computers".

Greenberg said that instead of using small index cards placed on a board to classify the priorities of a conference call, a bunch of people can sit around a big display screen and use multi-touch technology to arrange, draw and converse without any paper element.

Multi-touch interfaces will become common in a range of fields, such as medicine, physics and the military, Maurer said.

SurfNet researchers said that they would like to see touch-screen technologies make it convenient for groups to converse and share ideas. They expect it to open doors for creativity and problem solving, just like AutoCAD did for engineers.