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Nokia Builds a Touchscreen Display Made of Ice
hasanabbas1987 writes "Touchscreens have been with us for quite some time now and we have seen all kinds of them: resistive touch, capacitive, multi-touch, etc. However, Nokia's research lab in Tampere, Finland has developed a rather unique kind of touchscreen: a touchscreen made of ice. Well, to be honest, it's not really a touchscreen for everyday use, nor is it very portable, as the rig includes a projector and some infrared cameras (PDF) which are connected to a computer, but after all it's a touchscreen made out of ice and that is quite remarkable. Nokia says this 'playful experiment' reveals that interactive touch displays can be built anywhere, and we are very sure that Mr. Freeze from Batman will be highly interested in the project."
Wow, nice straight copy and paste job of the blog post there...
What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
to the voices of the north pole population
Be kind of interesting if they made this for that "Ice Hotel" that gets built every so often.
It would work well here in Minnesota durring the 5 months of winter
It's not really a "touch screen" like on an iPad et al, it's really a "touch surface" like on the Microsoft Surface.
I'll be sure to have a glass of Scotch or Bourbon to use as a stylus.
RIP America
July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001
Just don't put your tongue on it.
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Maybe this could solve the problem of leaving fingerprints behind (for people to lift and mimic) in high security areas. Just use it and when you are done you can just melt it down or blast the surface with a blow torch.
Maybe David Blaine will have one next time he stands outside in a block of ice?
That work was just published at the ACM Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces conference, so there is a rather more coherent explanation (and another video) at:
http://www.dfki.de/its2010/papers/sp199.html
(Not affiliated with either group, but ITS was a lot of fun)
In really cold weather regular touch screens would probably freeze up and stop working from the cold. So an ice touch screen would be perfect, especially for a cold place such as Finland. Well, at least for part of the year.
Do you think the elves who work for Santa Claus at the North Pole would be interested in this?
Blame the idiotic coverage rather than the folks building the wall. They're well aware it was just a cool (sorry) art piece. And shared their experiences for anyone who wants to build or build on the design.
For anyone who doesn't feel like clicking through the slow copy-and-paste blog to get to the actual NewScientist article:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20827875.800-worlds-first-ice-touchscreen-virtually-burns.html
Why ice? Wouldn't frosted glass work just as well? And wouldn't that be able to be applied anywhere all year round instead of just cold areas. Is there some special light property ice has?
MR Freeze would hate this. He is cold as ice so the device wouldn't work for him.
No text. Really.
It *might* make sense to include a note about the page layout in the text beyond simply "see below" if everyone's browser window were always the same size. I usually see "after the break" in the middle of a page, and I'm always like - What break? Where? What the hell are you talking about? Does it mean something I'm not getting, or are the authors really that stupid?
...gives "Sticky Keys" new meaning...
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
I give it a couple of months before it becomes vaporware.
...Ice-nine.
I think Superman may have prior art.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
"from batman" was unnecessary. All the geeks here know who Mr. Freeze is.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
"The system could be used in cold countries for interactive displays..." I couldn't help but laugh at that. I just imagine them showing up in Alaska planning to sell this to all the Eskimo's to use in their igloos and being shocked that they actually have heated homes now.
... now we finally have touch screens! *goes off buys Nokia smartphone*
This is NEWS? Nokia Makes multi-touch interactive display made of Ice "Touchscreens have been with us for quite some time now and we have seen all kind of them, resistive touch, capacitive, multi-touch, etc. However, Nokia’s research lab in Tampere, Finland has developed a rather unique kind of touchscreen, a touchscreen made of ice. Well to be honest it’s not really a touchscreen for everyday use, nor is it very portable as the rig includes a projector and some infrared cameras which are connected to a computer, but after all it’s a touch screen made out of ice and that is quite remarkable. Nokia says that this “Playful experiment” reveals that interactive touch displays can be built anywhere and we are very sure that Mr. Freeze from Batman will be highly interested in the project. Watch the MAGIC ice in action after the break."
They do it every year in Quebec. see: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/06/earlyshow/living/travel/main1183527.shtml
Forget about Mr. Freeze, this is the kind of technology that is welcomed by all Canadians!
Now if only they could build a phone that worked and was actually worth developing for.
Ice that doesn't melt at room temperature.
Otherwise, this product could have a very short lifetime after purchase.....
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IceCube_Neutrino_Observatory Now that's real Icegeneering!
Perfect for the Fortress of Solitude secret project they've not yet announced up there in the land of snow and ice.
go to the phone settings and click enable the option operator logo on, the phone will automatically save your logo however,it is not possible to have it in the standbymode as your phone doesnot support that feature.. http://twitter.com/leanspaacia1
After extended use, an ice touchscreen would probably become a bit pitted. I see a nice new market for Zamboni!
Oh great, and in ten years we'll be running out of ice and need to mine something else to make touch screens!!!!
Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
I've only read the headline, but it left me wondering: "What on Earth are these things made of?"
It's too bad the headline doesn't provide any information at all about the composition of these displays. For some reason the /. editors have opted for some non-geeky marketing-speak that completely ignores the facts and instead goes for... well, something, I guess. I don't know what.
I guess they think people here are dumb enough to go read a summary with a deliberately misleading headline, and then go and read a story with a deliberately misleading summary. What they've done instead is drive anyone intellegent to google "new Nokia display technology" and find some actual information.
Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.