iPad Lets Scientists Drag, Pinch and Swipe Single Molecules: Using laser beams to control individual molecules is a precise, difficult operation rendered nearly impossible by the limitations of the computer mouse.
The iPad displays the view through the microscope, and wirelessly sends the computer the information on where the user’s fingers are. A user can select up to 11 different objects by tapping them, move them around by dragging them, and use the pinch-zoom feature to move the objects up and down in space.
Theoretically, scientists could be sitting on the couch with an iPad at home moving beads or molecules in the lab.