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Nokia Builds a Touchscreen Display Made of Ice

Posted by samzenpus on from the cold-touch dept.

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."

23 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. After what break? by netsharc · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wow, nice straight copy and paste job of the blog post there...

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  2. Nokia finally listened by mhh91 · · Score: 2, Funny

    to the voices of the north pole population

  3. Maybe there IS a use for it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Be kind of interesting if they made this for that "Ice Hotel" that gets built every so often.

    1. Re:Maybe there IS a use for it... by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Every so often"? I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably built regularly around once a year. Usually around the same time to boot.

    2. Re:Maybe there IS a use for it... by Securityemo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yah, I live in Kiruna (you can see the site from the hill across my house if you have a good set of binoculars). The Ice Hotel gets rebuilt from ice blocks hauled up from the frozen Torne river every year. I believe it's some sort of collaborative art/architechtural project as far as the actual design and building goes, but I'm not really sure. It's privately owned, in any case.

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    3. Re:Maybe there IS a use for it... by camperslo · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, it looks like we have a new toy for those spy shows. It'd be kinda funny to see images on an ice cube in s cocktail, with a tongue touch interface. Another reason to hire spies with long tongues...

      But will they be able to power it all from a slice of lemon? Toothpick WiFi antenna... Olive processor.

    4. Re:Maybe there IS a use for it... by mickwd · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...around once a year. Usually around the same time to boot.

      Man, they need to work on those init scripts. Get some services starting in parallel.....

  4. Just to clarify by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not really a "touch screen" like on an iPad et al, it's really a "touch surface" like on the Microsoft Surface.

  5. cool by weorthe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Just don't put your tongue on it.

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  6. Re:Cool by AdmiralXyz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cool

    Icy what you did there.

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  7. More details by minsk · · Score: 4, Informative

    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)

  8. Re:Congratulations Nokia, you accomplished nothing by minsk · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

  9. Direct link to article by minsk · · Score: 3, Informative

    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

  10. Re:cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, that's because you are not apple fanboi.. They are seen licking their own, er, devices...

  11. Re:What about frosted glass? by minsk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Fun :)

    And shared experience, so someone else will have a little less tinkering to do when they look at this and go "Hey, I wonder if I could..."

  12. Don't use your tongue... by Trip6 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...gives "Sticky Keys" new meaning...

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  13. That's ice and all, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I give it a couple of months before it becomes vaporware.

  14. Re:Cool by houghi · · Score: 3, Funny

    Please do not use this type of chilling humor.

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  15. The end of the video... by orphiuchus · · Score: 4, Funny

    "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.

    1. Re:The end of the video... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, cause Finns know nothing about cold weather what with only a quarter of the country inside the Arctic circle.

  16. Re:Cool by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, what are your remedies? You going to give him the cold shoulder?

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  17. Re:Suitable for cold climates, I'm sure. by Sulphur · · Score: 2, Funny

    Do you think the elves who work for Santa Claus at the North Pole would be interested in this?

    All the elves at this year's New Elves Workshop got icePods.

  18. Every Year by Tideflat · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They do it every year in Quebec. see: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/06/earlyshow/living/travel/main1183527.shtml