Panasonic's 103-inch plasma repurposed as multitouch air hockey table
By Darren Murph 
posted Feb 17th 2009 5:38PM
posted Feb 17th 2009 5:38PM
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Nice - preordered for my workplace. :D
Nice but really I prefer the actual thing, much more fun.
What if a spectator leans over and puts a finger on the edge of it, does it distort the whole game?
Just think of all the other games that could work with this, like slot car racing or electric football. To me the multitouch isn't as big a deal as the new (to me) use for giant horizontal surfaced gaming displays.
I would immediately use the pinch zooming to make my AH mallet 5x bigger xD
Half the fun of air hockey is hitting the puck like a madman, and hoping it will come off and scalp your opponent or passersby.
... And in the even that it doesn't, throwing the paddle at the winner.
I'd love to play with you; but they'd have to develop some form of "handle". It looks a little weird having to slide two fingers around for a paddle.
eesh...that almost should be a crime.
almost. if i could, id be first in line :)
Customers might be upset after a few years when those Touchscreeen sensors go bad and people complain of gettin cheated out their money
That's just as bad as when proper air hockey tables go bad, which seems to be every month at my nearest arcade...
How to take remove all the best elements of air hockey and replace it with a big touch screen version of Pong.
I have to agree
Totally agreed. I love Air Hockey but absolutely hate the idea of an electronic version. What's next? Multi-Touch pool?
I'd use it to play Diablo-like games where god view is standard
I know it sounds totally geek, but I'd put my programming skills to task and make a pen and paper replacement table out of it and get back into d20 games.
lol D&D on this would be awesome. You could have all the books on pdf scattered on the screen as well as virtual dice to roll. You can pass a book around by flinging it at someone else with your finger. Damn now I want one.
Hell yeah... I wrote all my ideas out a while ago before multi-touch screens were coming to market. You could have it do true line of sight, all the different "visions" like low light... TONS of possibility.
I haven't played D&D for like 10 years....... but this idea sounds fun!
FUCKING AWESOME!
but how can I get the puck to hit my opponent in the nose?
What you don't see is the small nuclear reactor underneath the table that's required to power the thing.
They've got one in 'telly' form at my local electronics retailer. Disappointingly it plugs into the mains with a normal 3 pin plug. I was hoping for a Mr Fusion Home Energy Reactor.
The one at your local TV store might plug into a 'normal' 3-prong plug, but the one where I work plugs into a 'special' 3-prong plug that runs 220 Volts and provides at least 6-amps of power. Most 'normal' 3-prongs plugs that I know of don't provide that kind of juice.
Overseas uses 220. Not like us here, with our weak 120.
I was given to understand that large plasma screens are so sensitive to the glass breaking that they have to even be shipped standing up, so I guess the having it flat is a feat in itself.
Same thought. I've seen small plasmas at relatively flat angles and flat, but I didn't think a 103" would be able to support itself period. Seems like even thicker glass would still break, since it would just add more weight.
Man, That Thing Is Sweeeet!
Now A Touch Screen Call Of Duty Needs To Be Next!
It contains multi-touch, right?
APPLE LAWYER TEAM ASSEMBLE!
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=AGENTS+ARE+GO&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=elite+beat+agents&hl=en&emb=0
AGENTS ARE....
GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
First the digital Rubik's Cube, now this... When really cool technology goes bad (and pointless!)
this thing is like a supermodel...
it's way more than you can handle and afford (and worthless for anything beyond a toy)
BUT YOU STILL WANT IT.
this is all the justification i need.
Oh you know somebody is gonna try to have sex on that.
As long as Apple doesn't file lawsuit with Panasonic for using any multi-touch technology.
ewwww...fingerprints on my display..least i want is hands from a KFC joint on my 103" display.
You mean in Amsterdam you can even get a joint at KFC?!?!
I can think of better things to do in Amsterdam
Me too.
http://www.rud-gr.net/wallpaperfolders/wallpapers-music/2005/Sensation_Black_2005_02.jpg
@ Danny
That looks like a great show. Its a shame that they had to ruin it with all those fog machines.
This is probably they only way you'd get me to touch a Panasonic .. lol
My Name is Caboose
I never would've guessed...
This is probably the only way you'd get my to touch a Panasonic
My Name is Caboose
I never would've guessed...
Might be fun. Nevertheless, a simulation. I'd rather have the real thing. It's a shame those tables are rare where I live.
I played on it for 30 seconds, then it crashed and revealed a copy of Windows 2000 running Active Desktop.
What a beautiful waste of amazing technology. I want one now!
Cool! Can it make your fingernails sting cuz you are dumb enough to have them flapped over the edge of the paddle??
Cool enough technology... but nothing like the real sport of Air Hockey! The physics of the game seem off. Plus, it takes up just as much space... I'm pretty sure the real thing is cheaper!
Learn more about competitive Air Hockey at www.airhockeyworld.com!!
It's strange, but to me when it's laying flat, it seems a bit smaller than when up on a wall. It IS amazing in person, though (Saw it at HD Expo last year)
that is one expensive ass air hockey table...well i guess its not actually air hockey anymore is it?
Not all that impressive. It's just a life sized version of the same software that already exists on the iPhone.
(Of course, the iPhone version sucks to play, but whatever, this is nothing new.)
nah i need my little paddle things, the way i play air hockey there would be to much of a delay, lol. that and you cant get no bloody knuckles when you play, no fun in that
Could this do more damage to a TV than flinging a Wiimote at it?
What the heck?! How on earth is this better than the real thing? And how could anyone play a game when there's a lag (watch the vid, the paddle is slower than the hand)?
remind me to invest in a company that manufacturers bionic index and middle fingers it seems like that's all we're gonna need in the future
If this technology gets cheap enough I could see it eventually replacing most card, table, and board games. You could have almost every single such game in a single device. With a little Bluetooth/RFID action, I could see this being used for a virtual pool(billiards) table.
Could you imagine strategy games on this? Something like Starcraft, Warcraft(prior to WoW), Age of Empires, etc. How about Warhammer with Bluetooth/RFID in the little figurines?
What about trading card games? Add some RFID to the cards and play as you would now, only on a multitouch table. Just place your deck on the table and watch the cards transfer to your virtual deck. Tournaments could be easily tracked and monitored, games could be watched online in realtime, and stats could be easily uploaded too.
Virtual whack-a-mole, anyone?
I have to agree with those calling this a redundant heap of nonsense.
The whole point of Air Hockey is the unpredictable physics and throwing the paddle at your little brother.
As for the other suggested purpouses for it, any physical game, like air hockey, billiards, pool, couronne, fussball etc can't possibly give the same experience in a digital form as the real world.
I would like to play RISK, etc on it though. Board games with lots of pieces is the only purpouse of this device.
And porn ofc.
i thought they said that u should never lay a plasma down
This is the most awesome thing I have ever seen. My kids love the air hockey link on my iphone and play it constantly. I have a business on Kauai, an outdoor movie screen and I am always looking for cool things to add to it. I have used jump castles and ping pong tables, but if I could have little tournys with this table, that would be off the hook.