Minority Report-like interface gets demoed at CeBIT

It's far from the first Minority Report-like interface to make the rounds, but that doesn't seem to have prevented the massive setup pictured above from drawing a crowd at CeBIT, which one attendee thankfully captured on video. As you can see for yourself after the break, the rig lets you do all the usual moving, flipping and resizing, without the need for pesky gloves or silly headgear. Needless to say, there's no indication as to where this particular bit of technology is headed next, but it seems safe to assume that it'll become a fixture of trade shows for years to come.

[Derrick @ Mar 11th 2008 12:52PM]

Weren't they doing this on CNN?

[Aguiluz @ Mar 11th 2008 12:54PM]

Good. Now, make it cheap, make it for a house. And make it so I can retrofit my old table/wall without ripping it out. It would be nice to watch youtube on. But, then again, some people will say "will it play doom?" Of course it will play doom.

But what about the learning curve? Is it me or I will have a hard time learning how to jump from button pressing to touching. How will I check my email without jerks sneaking up to me?

But youtube will be great! I would not expect it to replace my traditional system though. Old school is nice. And private too for looking at my emails and por...t scanning on my network.

-Aguiluz

P.S: Talking of Youtube Videos, this i the best yet I have seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yldqNkGfo&feature=bz302

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT look at shocking images.

[Fraser JK @ Mar 11th 2008 2:41PM]

Wow wow, slow down... this thing was just demoed! Talk about time travel!

[michael @ Mar 11th 2008 5:11PM]

Um, that YouTube link has nothing to do with surface computing/big touchscreens none whatsoever.

[nonamo @ Mar 11th 2008 1:07PM]

Mmmm... Imagine the arm ache you'd get if you used one of these at home. No thanks.

[phlavor @ Mar 11th 2008 2:01PM]

I see this comment every time I see an interface like this. If that's your biggest concern, then you need this. Our arms were not designed to type on a little keyboard all day.

[Numetheus @ Mar 11th 2008 2:11PM]

You must have weak arms. I could do this all day!

[nonamo @ Mar 11th 2008 2:16PM]

You can hold your arms out infront of you all day? I'd like to see that!

[teej @ Mar 11th 2008 3:29PM]

you may just have to use a portion of your cunning...

no. all of your cunning.

[Joseph @ Mar 11th 2008 1:14PM]

You can get something like this from http://www.perceptivepixel.com/ for $100K. It's not transparent though.

[Mark N @ Mar 11th 2008 1:24PM]

is that the guy fro mthe "can you hear me now" commercials there too?

[Joseph @ Mar 11th 2008 1:28PM]

I highly doubt it.

[xB Owner @ Mar 11th 2008 1:25PM]

Kind of old news. There was a company out of New York called Perceptive displaying a similar system to this at Autodesk University in Vegas back in November. Really slick stuff though. Autodesk had their own software running on top. I had the opprotunity to see the setup/configuration screen and it appeared that the system was capable of recognizing all 10 digets. Because of this you could custom configure the systems actions based on how many digets were touching and how you moved them.

I was quoted a price at AU of about $75k for a starting price. Expensive, but not beyond the means of companies that could really use these sorts of displays. Perceptive Pixel has a really cool video on their site if anyone is interested.

http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

[Andir3.0 @ Mar 11th 2008 4:45PM]

Sorry, I must:

digits

[xB Owner @ Mar 11th 2008 5:39PM]

No problem Andir3.0. Serves me right for trying to work an post.

I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check.
I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check.
I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check.
I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check.
I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check.
I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check.
I will use spell check. I will use spell check. I will use spell check...

[jon @ Mar 12th 2008 9:10PM]

you mean "work and post." Spell check does not solve everything.

[Andir3.0 @ Mar 11th 2008 8:41PM]

Lol, it just stuck out. Sorry. ;)

[Balam Herrera @ Mar 11th 2008 1:34PM]

Its like a giant iphone!

[y3k.nik @ Mar 11th 2008 2:35PM]

nooo... it IS the iphone!

apple just has a giant shrink ray hidden in china that they use on this screen to turn into the iphones!

[Mofamike @ Mar 11th 2008 1:37PM]

I can imagine all these greasy, smudgy screens when users do their daily work using this technology.
hmm, one probably should invest in screen cleaning solutions before this new user interface is ready to market ;-)

[SGAg07 @ Mar 11th 2008 1:47PM]

It's called Windex.

[Kyanges @ Mar 11th 2008 2:01PM]

Looks like we'll need those gloves after all.

[Numetheus @ Mar 11th 2008 2:11PM]

Why would anyone need to invest in a screen cleaning solution? I have an iPhone that smudges on a daily basis along with millions of other people and we don't "invest" in any screen cleaning "solutions". Its called cleaner, anti-static wipes, or micro fiber cloth. Take your pick ... but you know those have all been available for decades right? You can get them from just about any store?

[HOOPER @ Mar 11th 2008 2:56PM]

Uhh I don't know about you guys but I've found wiping it on your shirt works just fine.

[Andir3.0 @ Mar 11th 2008 4:47PM]

In this case, wiping your body against the glass wall? :p

Really though, if your that concerned, I'm sure you can get a device (or patent it now!) that will clean the screen nightly by spraying a fine mist of cleaner and wiping the whole screen down with a giant squeegee.

[contempozine @ Mar 11th 2008 2:03PM]

This would be great for some sort of wireless media storage player. It would be even cooler if it was small and mobile so you could lounge on the couch like I am now while you use it.

CONTEMPOZINE - cool gifts for men

[IndiaTech @ Mar 11th 2008 2:16PM]

P0rn you can touch...

[muserato @ Mar 11th 2008 2:22PM]

Yeah... well, without a remote control to go with it, I doubt anyone will get one of those things installed at home.

[Jake @ Mar 11th 2008 2:53PM]

Not home but I can see a newspaper editor doing layouts like this. Or a digital graphic designer table.

Clean hands would definitely be a must. Either that or you'd have to work in the dark.

[airmanchairman @ Mar 12th 2008 7:18AM]

I see where you're going Jake: some kind of workflow chain where one person "preps" the product and "tosses" it along the line for another to continue, and so on and so forth (and possibly back again or back and forth).

The guys in the video didn't appear to have any practical aim to their demo other than showing the zooming and movinng capabilities.

The next step - practical applications of the science?

[Don Giovanni @ Mar 11th 2008 3:22PM]

Cool, but i dont think i'ld want to be standing that long much less using up so much energy to watch pron or something..

Neat way to view Flickr though.. they should have it built in, or maybe microsoft plans to first them

[Chris @ Mar 11th 2008 3:31PM]

I have an app on my (jailbroken) ipod touch exactaly like this, its awsome to view photos with it.

[Gobo @ Mar 11th 2008 3:40PM]

The iPhone comes with that app. It's the Photo Viewer.

[Chris @ Mar 11th 2008 3:45PM]

Its not that this is different, I downloaded it from installer.

[madwh @ Mar 11th 2008 6:17PM]

It's different that you can zoom out much more and then move it around and add more photos. That's how it's different, and oh, it's way cooler.

[madwh @ Mar 11th 2008 6:23PM]

Also, I forgot to mention that you can resize AND rotate the photo at the same time. Take that Photo Viewer. here's a video of Photo Board on iPhone: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PBzb1pIN05M

[Misque Writer @ Mar 11th 2008 8:37PM]

I'm waiting for one that's 1k. When I try to organize a novel, it would be great to shuffle around the scenes on a big screen like that, to have a visual sense of where each scene should go. (I do this now with index cards). I do, wonder, though, how it would work with word processing.

[Pip @ Mar 12th 2008 9:32AM]

They have had screens like this in all the airports for a while now. You can select your start and destination, show weather, live cams, airport delays, flight status, etc.. All on a huge 50'x20' screen that anyone can simply walk up to and touch. It was an information wall.

It was mind blowing to see for the first time, but like I said, that was a while ago.

[broben05 @ Mar 12th 2008 9:49AM]

Not all that impressive a multi touch "screen" on a "clear" or rather tinted piece of glass. Which is likely a glassfire screen with a projector mounted close by. Its yet another multi touch using a projector and IR patterns to pick up a finger and the motion.

[lqdcrct @ Mar 12th 2008 5:52PM]

i'm sure everyone here has seen, if not played with, the eye-toy interface for the playstation... there are tons of similar products to it. i imagine it won't be long 'til we see the two technolgies paired up into something more akin to the minority report interface and that, as they become more sophisticated, we will be seeing more than just the iphone-type stuff shown in the vid here.

[emailtabs @ Mar 13th 2008 7:07AM]

Anyone know where i can find the video.

was sent the you-tube link but the video is down.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. whas gwan on?