1. A computer-implemented method for transforming multi-touch input into one or more manipulation events, the method comprising: receiving from multi-touch hardware low-level touch input; identifying an application object to which the received low-level touch input applies; sending the received low-level touch input and information about the identified application object to a manipulation API for interpreting the received low-level touch input as one or more manipulation events, wherein the manipulation API is invokable by multiple applications and provides an application-independent platform for processing multi-touch input; receiving a manipulation event from the manipulation system that describes one or more manipulations of the identified application object; and handling the received manipulation event by modifying the identified application object, such that the application receives one or more manipulation events without performing steps specific to a particular multi-touch hardware device and without interpreting individual low-level touch inputs.