The technology is aimed at a broad range of uses ranging from interactive public signage, kiosks, collaborative computing and gaming. Moto posted a video demonstrating a prototype of its technology on a 19-inch computer display.

The company aims to fill a gap between iPhone-like displays that it says typically cannot scale beyond eight-inch screens and large touch panels such as Microsoft Surface that use bulky and expensive camera projection systems. The Moto approach could be added to a typical LCD and mounted on a wall or attached to a standard table top, the company said.

Moto developers decided "if this technology were available at the right price it would shift the paradigm for computer interaction because it would suddenly enable multiple users to work on multi-touch surfaces together," said Daniell Hebert, chief executive for Moto in a company statement.

The approach is based on an active capacitive matrix overlaid on the display. It does not require finger pressure on the display and sports a low response time even when many touch points are used simultaneously, said Gregor Berkowitz, president of the company.

Berkowitz said the approach is geared at 50-inch or larger displays, but would not be cost effective for use on 12-inch or smaller screens. The company has not finalized pricing or licensing terms for the technology which is proprietary to Moto.

In January, Apple Inc. suggested it has key patents on multi-touch interfaces and it might file suit against competing products such as the upcoming Palm Pre. Separately, researcher Jeff Han has helped popularize the idea of multi-touch interfaces working with large-sized displays.

"There is a lot of intellectual property in the touch space and we are currently working within the constraints of this complex landscape," said Berkowitz.