Trailblazers

Jeff Han

Jeff Han is the guy who came up with those large, multi-touch screens you see on CNN.


Most touch-screens, such as the ones at airport check-in kiosks, allow only one finger touch at a time. But Jeff Han’s large, multitouch screens can be activated by touching or sweeping several fingertips across the surface.

Users can slide digital photos around as if they were prints on a desk, and several people can edit different photos at the same time.

Han, a consulting research scientist at New York University, studied computer science and electrical engineering – subjects that helped him develop technology that lets many people collaborate. Music fans can rock out with virtual guitars on an interactive wall, thanks to a touch-screen technology that Jeff Han tinkered with.