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A Big Step Forward In Air Display and Interface Tech

Posted by Soulskill on from the wave-your-hands-in-the-air-like-you-just-don't-care dept.

wjcofkc writes "Interactive displays projected into the air in the spirit of Iron Man have been heralded as the next step in visual technology. Yet many obstacles remain. According to Russian designer Max Kamanin, creator of Displair, many the problems have now been largely cracked. With this attempt at refining the technology, the image is created inside a layer of dry fog which is composed of ultra-fine water droplets so small they lack moisture. Three-dimensional projections are then created using infrared sensors. The projected screen currently responds intuitively to 1,500 hand movements, many of which are similar to those used on mobile devices, such as pinch and zoom. The most immediate applications include advertising and medicine, with the latter offering a more hygienic alternative to touchscreens. The most immediate objection from home and office computer users is that they don't want to be waving their hands around all day, and while such questions as 'What happens when I turn on a fan?' are not answered here, just imagine a future with a projected keyboard and trackpad that use puff-air haptic feedback with the option of reaching right into the screen whenever it applies to the application at hand — and applications that take advantage of such a technology would no doubt come along. Better yet, imagine for yourself in the comments. As always, pictures speak a thousand words, so don't neglect the articles gallery."

9 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Porn by Megahard · · Score: 2

    Seems like the obvious application.

    --
    I eat only the real part of complex carbohydrates.
  2. Water droplets so small they lack moisture... by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...as described in a summary so concise it lacks sense.

  3. Re: many the problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "the image is created inside a layer of dry fog which is composed of ultra-fine water droplets so small they lack moisture. "

    Really ... WTF. Water that lacks moisture. That's like sound that lacks vibrations.

  4. The thousand words I saw by DigitAl56K · · Score: 2

    If many of the problems have been solved, why do the pictures in the gallery look like burry 2D with dim output in a dark room?

    1. Re:The thousand words I saw by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 2

      It doesn't look like blurry 2D photos in the middle of a sauna, which has been the problem. Not that there were hairy fat dudes in the background - there just weren't any hot people. Apologies to the furry crowd - I assume you're into hairy fat dudes, I just felt like appealing to the majority.

      Now the 2D reductions look considerably better. Use your imagination just a little, compare with anything out there, and good gracious gobshite mcfuckerwad that's awesome.

      I'm excited just so the people whining about how 3D, despite representing all 3 dimensions, isn't holographic to the point that you can re-focus or move your head. At least the tech is moving forward so I can say "you have your holograms - shut the fuck up and let me watch my movie".

    2. Re:The thousand words I saw by subreality · · Score: 4, Informative

      TFA describes it in a way that makes sense even if it's technically inaccurate:

      The water drops are so tiny they don't have any moisture in them; you can test it on paper or your glasses -- your piece of paper will remain dry and your glasses won't steam up.

      More accurately: The water drops are so tiny they won't moisten things they contact.

      ... let's call a recess and re-convene when that statement makes sense, shall we?

      You may now resume bashing the gizmo for being inadequate instead of the submitter for being incomprehensible or the editors for being incompetent.

  5. Projection on water by Animats · · Score: 2

    Projection onto streams of water is well known. Here are some examples. It's used to create big-screen effects outdoors, usually for PR purposes. You usually get big, but fuzzy, images, because the water screen isn't flat enough. Huge light levels are required, so it takes expensive projectors. Indoors, I've seen it done in a doorway, and you could walk through the image, getting slightly wet.

    Until somebody figures out how to make a curtain of mist/water/some gas or liquid stay very flat, this isn't going to be more than an advertising gimmick.

    1. Re:Projection on water by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      It's a party trick, nothing else. You can't do much useful work with it because the display is transparent, meaning the background is whatever distracting crap you have back there.

      Look at it this way. We have been able to print on transparent plastic sheets for decades but no-one prefers them to paper because they are only useful when projected against a large white screen.

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      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
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  6. Re: many the problems by Charcharodon · · Score: 2

    Dehydrated H20. Much easier to carry around since it doesn't have all that moisture to weigh it down.