A transparent computer that allows users to reach inside and touch digital content has been unveiled at the Technology, Education and Design (TED) conference in Los Angeles.
The SpaceTop 3D desktop allows users to literally reach “into” their computer, and move files and data with their hands. Jinha Lee, a student at MIT, has been working on the SpaceTop 3D desktop in collaboration with Microsoft. He told BBC that the system which allows people to interact with machines in the same way they do with solid objects could make computing much more intuitive. He can see the system coming into general use within a decade.[more…]
The system consists of transparent LED display, 3D graphics and camera-monitored gesture controls to create the illusion of a box behind the monitor. Users place their hands behind the screen to manipulate the icons and apps, while a camera tracks their eye position and adjusts the angle, making it appear as though the box is really 3D.
Lee said on his website:
It extends the traditional desktop interface with interaction technology and visualization techniques that enable seamless transitions between 2D and 3D manipulations. SpaceTop allows users to type, click, draw in 2D, and directly manipulate interface elements that float in the 3D space above the keyboard.
If you are working on a document you can pick it up and flip through it like a book,” he said. For more precise tasks, where hand gestures are not accurate, there is a touchpad. It will allow, for example architects to manipulate 3D models.
The SpaceTop 3D computer is still in the early stages, and no consumer devices are currently planned. We hope to see it in the market in the near future.
Read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/02/28/spacetop-3d-transparent-computer_n_2779425.html
