https://itunes.apple.com/nl/app/id827912681?mt=8
The mobile app Let’s Touch allows people to communicate with eachother in a new way. Calling, texting and chatting are all considered normal ways of communicating. But what if we could communicate by ‘touching’ eachother using the screen on a smartphone?
Initiate touch
Touch in action
The dutch company Let’s Touch has recently released an app (going by the same name) that makes this possible. The original creator, Rik Veldhuizen, got the idea for such an app during one of his business trips. Besides calling and texting, he was looking for a new, personal and fun way to communicate with his family at home. This was the beginning of the Let’s Touch application, now available in app stores worldwide for both iOS and Android.
Simply put, the apps works as follows: after you have installed the app, you invite somebody else (for example your partner) to install the app as well (which can easily be done using a built-in text message).
You can then send this person a touch request, that will come in through a notification. Once you accept the touch, something wonderful happens…
How does it work?
As soon as you touch the screen, a fingerprint appears and you feel a vibration when your fingerprints make contact. This vibration is combined with moving sparkles and of course the sound of the vibration. This is the so-called touching. But Let’s Touch allows you to do more than ‘just’ having the ability to touch. Through a simple menu, emoticons and melodies can be shared, a game can be played together and pictures can be created and shared instantly.
Furthermore, it is possible to draw together in real-time. Finally, when the other person does not respond to a touch invitation, you can ‘leave a touch’ by having your touch-actions recorded and sent as a so-called touchmail.
Let’s Touch is a free application. At the moment, a facebook account is required to login (additional login ways will be introduces in a future version). In the near future, the application will be expanded with new content such as stickers, additional games, ao.
More information can be found on the website www.letstouch.co or www.facebook.com/letstouch and the app is available in the Apple and Google app stores.
We welcome your feedback!
Apologies, the link at the top of the article should have been the following (not country specific):
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id827912681?mt=8&uo=4
Nice to leave a personal touch. Are you already working on a next release?
Yes, we will upload a release (for review by Apple) early next week.
As we have recently (early October) released a major release with new features such as drawing together and the ability to leave a touch (i.e. send a ‘touchmail’ when somebody does not answer the touch request), this new release will contain some small updates, such as the ability to send a touchmail directly and have the interface in spanish as well (besides english & dutch).
And we have also added a hidden ‘wow’ feature as an easter egg… :)
So they coppied a feauture of the app Couple and made it an app.
Great point, glad you brought that up, as it deserves some clarification.
Reality is, Let’s Touch was already live in a first market before we found out about the Thumbkiss feature in Couple (in hindsight, it’s incomprehensible how we missed it during marketing research, but that’s another story). Also, the idea for Let’s Touch was ‘born’ over 4 years ago, but development did not start until 2013.
But, you can understand the slight terror when we did find out about Thumbkiss :). The resemblance was striking. Having said that, there’s also a huge difference. Couple is, in its core, an asynchronous messenger app and the real-time, Thumbkiss feature is more of a gimmick-feature. Let’s Touch uses real-time touch as its core for everything it provides and really is all about synchronous communication (incl playing games for example)
Of course, we also provide the ‘leave a touch’ feature in which case the users do not have to be communicating in real-time, but even then will you see that you all your actual movements, letters, icons, drawings, pictures, etc are all captures in real timing and for the recipient it feels as if the sender is there, seeing all the movements in a natural way. This also allows to, for example, create very personal ‘touchcards’ that you can send to your friends, partner, family, etc.
If you’d like to try the application and provide more thoughts on it, that would be highly appreciated…!
A new release (v1.4) is now available in the stores, with the following new features:
LEAVE A TOUCH DIRECTLY – You now have the option to leave a touch without having to try to touch live first. This is a nice new option to send great, personal touchmails directly.
SPANISH – The application now contains a spanish translation (besides english and dutch).
LETTER PANEL – When letters are used, they are now shown in a small panel as well, to make sure you don’t miss what is being said.
EASTER EGG – We have added an easter egg (that you can even initiate for the other person!). Can you find it?
http://www.letstouch.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/LT-v14.png