Argos was an open-source GUI builder for multi-touch tabletops. Originally a research project at CalArts, most of the developmental work was sponsored by the Natural User Interface Group (NUI Group, Inc) as part of the 2010 Google Summer of Code. Previously working on several other multi-touch environments, I was particularly interested in how surfaces mediated group collaboration in art and music creation-based applications.

Argos consisted of two sub-components: a reusable multi-touch widget toolkit and an accompanying interface builder for the rapid prototyping of surface interfaces. Interfaces could be used to directly control other applications (via OSC), or act as a GUI layer on top of native applications written in openFrameworks/C++. The builder aspect was designed to explore ways in which multiple participants could simultaneously use and design their own interfaces on different areas of the surface while controlling artistic applications or installations. The primary motivation was to re-create a Jazz Mutant Lemur-like environment for larger multi-touch surfaces.