We’re big fans of of Microsoft Surface, the interactive multitouch tabletop that acts a bit like an iPhone on a much larger scale (though the technology used is completely different). In fact, we like the Surface so much that we’re one of the few private organizations to actually have one. So today when I saw some new technology may well work itself into a future version of the innovative product, I was more than a little enthused.
The new technology showcased today allows Surface-like devices to effectively project two different images in the same space. One of these projections is shown on the display as it normally would be, while the other is projected through it, so that it appears on anything that is held above the Surface (watch the video if this doesn’t make sense – it’s very cool). The technology works by rapidly alternating which of the images are projected at a speed that makes the transition undetectable to the human eye. The technology can also be applied to a basic hand held electronic viewfinder that can shift the user’s perspective of the Surface image in real-time (again, see the video).
Note: It is tough to see the projected images in the standard-def YouTube video, so make sure to click on the ‘HD’ button to watch the high definition version.
wow. that’s awesome! I want one!!!
http://www.thew...r.com/microsoft
This is unbelievably cool. I’m having trouble believing it to be honest. Amazing. The applications in education are huge. A group of kids sitting around a single Surface all interacting in their own context. Stunning.
This is why I love surface computing – so many amazing applications of simple concepts.
looks cool but i dont see any use for it for me practically
Maybe because you’re a dropout
maybe lol
Hope I could use some technology like this to project something else on the OHP while viewing something else on my laptop that is connected to the OHP.
Wow. That’s nuts. The concept actually makes a lot of sense, although it’s crazy how many different technologies are being applied to that one device.
I may be off on this, but because the images are rotating rapidly, could this be used to create subliminal messages?
I think it’s useless. This is the same concept as 3D monitors projecting the double stream.
LOOK at how far 3D monitors went in the marketplace.
Are 3D monitors prohibitively expensive?
http://www.stap...rtNumber=770716
Are people just “waiting for the price to go down” before they can put one into their own living rooms???
No, they’re not. Same technology, same effect.
Until a killer app comes out that uses dual display devices like the one in this article and the $350 3D failure monitor, then nobody will get one.
Killer Apps fuel devices, and these technologies have zero killer apps. Just DUMB looking demos.
The minute the pervs in San Fernando Valley figure out a way to produce 3D porn and broadcast it over the internet, sales of these dual time slice display devices will go through the roof.
Traditional 3D monitors do left and right several times a second in blue and red shift to give the impression of 3d. Heliographic devices project the same thing against gas or water mist.
http://io2technology.com
These guys put a rather boring twist on it. Not as good as the 3d or the heliodisplay, but not much in this sector is left unpatented.
There’s the MS sphere display also
youtube.com/watch?v=-YLdYlN6FhI
But it’s just dual touch LCD on a globe. It doesn’t have multiprojection.
Again, the minute there’s an ActiveX object to project dual display 3d information to these monitor and dual projection devices and the porn freaks in the valley get a hold of it, it will explode.
Otherwise an honest to god good application will have to come out for it.
I love surface very much, simple concept with fancy app.
Think even more 3 dimensionally. Make a stack of.. say 64 sheets of glass with this high performance blinky stuff. Then have the glass blink on and off in sequence from the bottom to the top (do you see where I’m going with this?). Viola! 3d!
3D is a visual trick with light and the way humans perceive visual information. You don’t need physical sheets of anything to produce 3D images.
Lots of technologies were patented, and it seems to me that this was what was left at the bottom of the hat.
Not to worry, it will only push people to come up with even more inventive concepts.
Sidenote on Note. You can embed HD quality video itself, by appending &fmt=18 to the video URL.
WHATEVER! As much use as a chocolate automobile. The whole ’secret projection’ thing is particularly unfathomable – why not just have layers on the image with said additional information,, rather than messing around with bits of tracing paper?
Tabletop displays were cool for about sixty seconds in the early 80s when you could play Galaxian and balance a pint on them. People dont like looking down at screens because of a quirk of human evolution known as the vertebra.
Shouldn’t Microsoft be working on something useful and commercial like a decent mobile phone or music player?
Very cool
not new, look up xerox parc and the future of paper.