We’ve seen the lab rats on the CSI crime shows use it. John King of CNN works it when his manipulates the red state/blue state maps during election season. And today, led by the iPhone, the masses tap the touch interface to manipulate electronic devices like cell phones and PDAs.

SpaceClaim, a newcomer to the 3-D CAD set, is now promising that the fall release of its direct modeling program will leverage Windows Touch to help engineers create and edit precise solid models. Multi-touch interfaces enable on-screen objects to be manipulated using multiple fingers, and experts expect the technology to become more commonplace as Microsoft Windows 7 becomes entrenched. With this move, SpaceClaim is positioning itself to be in the forefront of 3-D design tools that can support this technology.

Augmenting the mouse and keyboard as a new way to interact with solid models, the Touch interface  will deliver a number of benefits for interacting with CAD models, SpaceClaim officials say. Among the highlights:

–Less mouse activity because user interface controls are always close to a finger
–More intuitive 3-D interaction like view panning and rotation
–Simpler selection due to conveniences like painting or four-finger box selection
–A more hands-on modeling experience since working with virtual parts in this mode is more like working with real parts.
SpaceClaim says its software will work with any Windows 7-supported hardware device.

Separately, SpaceClaim announced it won a major OEM deal with Flow International Corp. to provide 2-D and 3-D design capabilities within Flow’s Ultrahigh-Pressure (UHP) Waterjet Cutting products aimed at customers machining high volume, short run or prototyping parts.