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Transparent Screens on the Horizon?
mhesseltine writes "According to United Press, researchers in Japan are developing transparent transistors. This could bring about see-through screens like those in Minority Report. Also, I imagine would be better heads-up displays (HUDs) for vehicles, layered flat panel displays, and new methods of interfacing with information screens."
Wonder if you could layer these screens to provide depth of vision as well...
There would be some interesting applications for a screen that could allow information to be displayed in three dimensions.
Extremely convince illusions created by layering multiple levels of transparent screens. True 3D, though only so much parallax can be created.
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
Actually, HUDs are about the most practical use I can think for these things.
Not surfing pron, but having your speedometer, tach, oil pressure blah blah in front of you so you dont have to look away from the road to make sure you didnt speed past that cop.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Am I the only one who would put something solid behind the transparent screen so I wasn't distracted by the stuff behind it? People walking around back there, maybe the dog running through my documents...it'd tick me off pretty quick.
That may just be me though...
They'll need to choose a material for the transistors that has the index of refraction as everything else in the display, otherwise it will be tough to see through (like frosted glass).
It's the whole reason the Predator (in the movie with the same name) wasn't completely invisible. Those pesky physics always spoil a good time!
Any sufficiently unpopular but cohesive argument is indistinguishable from trolling.
This may not be that useful for a HUD display. Although the display is inside the vehicle, it's projected so the focus distance is many feet in front of the windshield. Otherwise you'd see a double image of the HUD when your eyes are focused down the road.
I doubt it.
In the good days, managers don't like videoconferencing because they don't earn airline miles that way. A lot of people like to travel on company expense, and pick up free tickets or upgrades for themselves along the way. Videoconferencing also tend to be troublesome to set up, so less technical people would probably rather use the phone if they can't just fly there.
For technical types, it's nearly impossible to conduct a meeting with the jerky motion and poor resolution. I frequently need to draw complex diagrams (which is why you needed a meeting in the first place, not just an email), and videoconferencing systems today fail miserably here.
Why hasn't it caught on? The question is what you're trying to replace. Most business or technical problems can be solved over the phone, instant messaging, and email. The ones that can't be solved that way can't be solved using videoconferencing either.