World's Smallest Projector

SkinnyGuy writes "Mixed into all of PCMag's CES preview coverage is an interesting story about a projector that's no bigger than an iPod. An early version showed up at last year's CES, but some of the guts weren't inside the small body. Now they are. It uses lasers to project the image. Really fascinating, futuristic stuff."

Comments

Laptops

[ianare]

This would be awesome for an ultra-portable laptop: just a keyboard without the screen, just project onto any wall ... or use a very light roll-up screen.

Re:Laptops

[ZJVavrek]

Or one of those laser keyboards. Like this. http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/8193/ Get some reasonably powerful device, add the two of those and maybe some kind of location sensing finger ring for a mouse... voilà, now you have a justifiable reason for Linux on your cell phone. Not that you needed one.

Re:Laptops

[artg]

Still needs some work to match Asimov's idea, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Radiant

Re:Laptops

[smithberry]

Made me think of this futuristic device I read about middle of last (!) year with a computer no larger than a pen: http://tech-nex.blogspot.com/2007/07/glance-intothe-future-computer.html A small laser projector is a step towards the future :-)

Re:Laptops

[RedBear]

This would be awesome for an ultra-portable laptop: just a keyboard without the screen, just project onto any wall ... or use a very light roll-up screen. Exactly what I was saying to my wife a couple of weeks ago. The fact is that we're about one step away from having this ultra-portable computer already. As soon as Apple updates the iPhone and iPod Touch to support A) Bluetooth keyboards and B) outputting a higher resolution like the 848x480 resolution supported by this projector, a large portion of modern society will have all the "computer" they need. After all, there are a great many people out there that do nothing but email and web browsing with their computers. Literally the only thing keeping a lot of these folks from using their iPhone as their only computer is the fact that the screen is too small and the keyboard is no good for using all day long.

Solve those issues and we already almost have right now, today, a full-fledged computer that fits in your pocket. This projector is a big step in the right direction. I will be very disappointed and surprised if the iPhone and iPod Touch don't get these features within the next couple of revisions. You thought the Mac mini was a phenomenon. As soon as these features appear there will finally be a handheld convergent device and you can bet that every other student in America will have one in their hand before long, to say nothing of the rest of society.

Possibilities for embedded devices?

[zykhou]

While I'm sure the original price tag will be steep, this product could actually have some pretty sweet applications.

Imagine a singular device, the size of a cell phone, that could be a wholly working portable computer. You set it down and it projects a screen wherever you need it. Imagine that projector with something like this, and some sort of mouse replacement, and you'd have all your IO needs on the go. Instead of being restricted to tiny screens and keyboards, your portable device could be competition for your main desktop (which seems to be the route that consumer electronics are heading).

I know I can't wait for the day when I carry around one wallet sized (or smaller) device that is an audio player, a cell phone, and feature complete computer, capable of being used for the same applications my laptop is for, but with far less weight and size. Hopefully with devices like this, I won't have to wait until I'm near dead to enjoy such luxuries.

Would be great for multi touch touchscreen

[mrjb]

Lately I've been giving some thought about how the hard part of multi-touch touch panel is the projection. Such a screen can be built from a sheet of glass+webcam, but the problem is that projecting an image back onto it requires a rather expensive projector. A $200-$300 laser projector would take this into the realm of 'affordable' technology.

It could also render the OLED technology of the 'optimus maximus' keyboard obsolete- many people have a second VGA port that they do not use. Using this port to display a key map onto an essentially transparent keyboard would do the same. It could also allow people to choose the decoration to be displayed on the rest of their keyboard.

Re:Would be great for multi touch touchscreen

[apt142]

At $200-$300 my first thought was, could this replace my TV set? I'd just need a tuner, which I could get for my computer. It sure would be nice to reduce all of my entertainment equipment to one computer, a speaker system and an iPod sized projector.

The resolution isn't what I would like, especially if I wanted to hook it up to my computer. But, I'm sure that'll improve in future versions.

Re:thanks for posting the article

[gingerTabs]

My 25,000 shares of MVIS also thanks you. I'm betting big dollar that someday micro projectors will be in every music player and phone, much like almost every phone has a camera now (I made a similar bet on OVTI a few years ago and was not disappointed). You must be gutted. There's only a 9 month window over the last 5 years when you could have bought those shares and made any gains. Still, hold out for the future eh :)

I bet the image is horrible

[Joce640k]

I don't see how a scanning laser beam can produce a watchable image.

It'll be a cool toy, sure, but nothing more...

Re:I bet the image is horrible

[wjsteele]

I built a scanning laser projector that can easily update 60 times per second. It wasn't using MEMS either, which are smaller and much faster, but it was using Galvos.

Considering your eyes work at around 24 frames per second, I'd say it was acceptable. (TV and Computer monitors run at 60fps as well.)

Now that I think about it, DLP Televisions are using MEMS devices with an array of mirrors that move just as fast... and I've never heard complaints about their refresh rate.

Bill

Good

[DerWulf]

Very cool product. The name sucks though. Google finds 2.560.000.000 hits for "SHOW".

Re:This Isn't Going to be Good for the Community

[jacquesm]

I think your power calculations for skywriting are off by several orders of magnitude. That sort of laser is best not used near anything combustible either, not unless you want it to combust that is :)

A friend of mine who pioneered lasers in pop music (for Genesis in the Peter Gabriel days) once turned down a proposal to implement this because of the limited range of conditions when it would operate and the enormous power levels required, it's a bit of a difference to project something on a wall 5' away from you vs on a semi-transparant medium several hundred meters away. Of course you don't need to take my word for it, or you may have meant your original post in a sarcastic way (but that's hard to tell here sometimes).

a 50 mW laser will carray a good distance as long as you don't start scanning it, then it quickly becomes useless.

Why do I get the feeling...

[advocate_one]

that the MPAA are not going to be impressed with it...

"It's a great for-use mode when it comes to spontaneously sharing content with your friends," said Russell Hannigan, Microvision's Director of Product Management for Consumer Projection Displays.

and that they'll insist on it being DRM'd to death

Re:This Isn't Going to be Good for the Community

[Anonymous Coward]

Wasn't there a recent article about a couple being tried with a crime with a maximum 5 year sentence and some huge fines for shining a laser into the sky (albeit at a helicopter pilot)? I'm guessing even if people could easily project shit onto clouds, these sorts of consequences would keep it in check.

zardoz...!

[apodyopsis]

anybody remember that Sean Connery scifi flick Zardoz? An good well thought out plot and Charlotte Rampling's knockers could not save it from some hammed up acting and a general public with no intelligence. But one of the cooler points of the film was the rings that all the immortals wore - voice driven data interfaces to the central computer (called the tabernacle if memory serves me well..) and capable of projecting images, movies and information onto any nearby wall with perfect clarity.

we now have projected keyboards, mini laser projectors and infra-red tracking - come on, lets build our own mini computers and dump those expensive power hungry boxes on our desks. if we could finally solve the porblem of mesh computing and get rid of the ISP monopolies then that would be fantastic as well, lets hope OLPC proves the concept viable..

ED IS THE TRUE PATH TO NIRVANA!!

[tm2b]

Ed is the true path to Nirvana! Ed has been the choice of educated and ignorant alike for centuries! ED WILL NOT CORRUPT YOUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS!! ED IS THE STANDARD TEXT EDITOR! ED MAKES THE SUN SHINE AND THE BIRDS SING AND THE GRASS GREEN!!

(Goddamned "Lameness filter" has lessened the correct impact of this holy rant.)