Double-sided transparent touch display would make Battleship amazing

You've got to feel bad for the vendors at the Sign and Display Show 2008 that's going on in Tokyo right now for being totally overshadowed by IFA, but this nifty dual-sided transparent touch display from Teraokaseiko is definitely noteworthy, even if it just because it'll make future versions of Battleship and Connect 4 super fun. It's just a monochrome 256 x 120 EL-panel prototype for now, but it recognizes simple multitouch gestures like pinching, and there's definitely promise in the idea -- now if it could make it out of the Sign and Display Show and into the big leagues, we'd be all set.

[nick @ Aug 29th 2008 8:41PM]

Actually in Battleship you cant see the other side.... were u ever a child?

[Jon Doe. @ Aug 30th 2008 4:19AM]

HA! I'm glad someone noted this. Now is the screen could reveal your opponents square when you select it to reveal a battleship. THAT would be cool. I guess technically we can do this already. They have that material that goes opaque when you put a charge through it. That in individual squares in a grid pattern coupled with this stuff would be pretty cool....but expensive as hell.

[Jon Doe. @ Aug 30th 2008 4:21AM]

Heck I could also see the above using used to create a "RADAR" feature in Battleship opening up 4 squares at a time. I need to patent this idea now :-P

[AlexB @ Aug 30th 2008 4:59AM]

Could you please tell me more about this material :
"They have that material that goes opaque when you put a charge through it. That in individual squares in a grid pattern coupled with this stuff would be pretty cool....but expensive as hell."
Thanks :)

[LondonConsultant @ Aug 30th 2008 7:04AM]

@Nick

Well, I was a child once and I remember that each player had two grids. On one, you arrange your ships and record opponent shots; on the other, you record your own shots.

Now, it doesn't take too much imagination to conceive a game with three (instead of four) grids in total: each player still arranges their ships on a private grid, but they also share a transparent grid that records both their shots. Simple and effective...

[junkdubious @ Sep 22nd 2008 1:12PM]

"Could you please tell me more about this material?"

http://www.avantisystemsusa.com/products/framless_partitions/lcd.htm

You need Flash :P

[Yay. @ Aug 29th 2008 8:43PM]

The future of games will be, in a word, badass.

[Dave @ Aug 29th 2008 8:45PM]

If it's transparent, then wouldn't that make Battleship kind of easy?

[Graham @ Aug 29th 2008 11:05PM]

Or possibly twice as hard. Remember, the opponent is looking at your ships also. Its a race to who can destroy then first.

[Cam @ Aug 29th 2008 11:13PM]

So whoever goes first wins...lame. At least you won't have to worry about the cheaters who don't put one of their ships on until the end.

[tech-chan @ Aug 29th 2008 8:46PM]

Umm, it's double sided.

Battleship's gonna be easy as hell.

Title failure.

[crsh @ Aug 29th 2008 8:54PM]

Needs more pretty anti-aliasing.

[AlexL @ Aug 29th 2008 8:56PM]

Do you even understand how the game of Battleship is played?

[th3archiv3 @ Aug 29th 2008 8:55PM]

Or transparent windows that can change wallpapers with touch sensitive interactivity on a rainy day! Just my wishful thinking.

[Ross @ Aug 29th 2008 9:00PM]

I think it would be cool. for like the game board at the top with where you have hit and misses and your own screen at the bottom with your ships and stuff (referring to battleships)

[Isaac @ Aug 29th 2008 9:12PM]

Uh...when was battleship NOT amazing?

[sjdurfey @ Aug 29th 2008 9:18PM]

maybe he's referring to the top where you place the pegs of places you've already called? other than that, i dont know how it would be a good idea for battleships. now connect 4 on the other hand.....

[Wormbolt @ Aug 29th 2008 9:19PM]

Now we know what it would look like to live inside a Nintendo DS.

[ifoughtfate @ Aug 29th 2008 9:27PM]

I just had a serious flash-forward of myself as some crazy old lady telling my grandchild "back in my day we actually had to pick up the pieces to play connect-4!"

[Josh @ Aug 29th 2008 9:31PM]

Ahahah doublesided TRON with fingers?

[DarCowAlways @ Aug 29th 2008 9:44PM]

I think ELECTRONIC TALKING BATTLESHIP is extreme enough.

[JD @ Aug 29th 2008 11:16PM]

Not too reassuring that their X player seems to have actually managed to lose tic-tac-toe ... and O could have won it a whole round earlier if it hadn't played so badly too.

[atz6975 @ Aug 29th 2008 11:59PM]

Battleship on transparent screen...I hope it's bullet proof too.

[JKK @ Aug 30th 2008 1:44AM]

It'll certainly make those visits to your relatives in prison much more fun and interesting

[AlexB @ Aug 30th 2008 4:52AM]

Could you please tell me more about this material :"They have that material that goes opaque when you put a charge through it. That in individual squares in a grid pattern coupled with this stuff would be pretty cool....but expensive as hell."
Thanks :)

[Dr Zoidberg @ Aug 30th 2008 8:38AM]

YOU SUNK MY SCRABBLESHIP!

[Andy @ Aug 30th 2008 9:59AM]

@AlexB

I think regular transparent monochrome LCD screens fit this description. Have you ever seen those little clocks with LCDs suspended in a little "window", and the numbers appearing within?

Make a matrix out of that, and you have what the above commenter is describing.

[John @ Aug 30th 2008 11:35AM]

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

[eddy @ Aug 31st 2008 10:02AM]

why do nerds always pick on the title or minor references in an article rather than the article itself?