The Touch User Interface (TUI) Advantage for Publishers

  1. Reduces the cost of textbooks while increasing the amount of content.
  2. Blends text, audio, video, American Sign Language (ASL), sub-caption, and Braille as a universal design (UD).
  3. Content can be updated on web-server, hard-drives, and optical media (DVDs, CDs) providing an easy-to-implement digital rights management (DRM) system.
  4. Accommodates multiple learning styles and multiple intelligences.
  5. Accommodates special needs and home-schooled students and provides an inclusive environment.
  6. Enables the teacher, school, and district to create a customized solution using publisher's content.
  7. Services such as tracking the usage of the book for student accountability.
  8. The teacher can customize the content delivery to match student needs.
  9. Blending paper and digital contents may help increase test scores and student learning.
  10. Meets mandates like the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS).

The TUI technology enables the direction connection between paper and digital contents. When the student presses a word, picture, or graph on the printed page an appropriate piece of digital content is presented on the computer or TV via DVD. Table 1 compares the different media types.

Table 1: Comparing the Types of Media for Delivering Content
Paper DVD/CD WWW/Internet TUI
Content
Storage
Space
Intensive Limited storage space Unlimited storage space Reduced paper space;
unlimited storage.
Time Intensive Reduced Reduced Reduced time
Cost Cost intensive Cost saving Cost saving Cost saving
Easy of Use Easy Moderate Difficult Easy to use
Interactivity Low High Medium High Interactivity

Results