John Underkoffler

Latest

  • Minority Report UI designer demos his tech at TED (video)

    by 
    Sean Hollister
    Sean Hollister
    06.03.2010

    In February 2010, the man who built the technology of Minority Report twice -- once for the movie, and once in real life -- spoke at TED about the future of user interface design. Yesterday, TED posted John Underkoffler's entire fifteen-minute video presentation -- a copy of which you'll find right after the break. Get a curated glimpse into his company's tech in the following demo, and hear from the man himself when the gloves might come off. And if that doesn't satisfy your appetite, read an in-depth interview with Underkoffler at our more coverage link.

  • Minority Report UI designer John Underkoffler talks about the future of gestures

    by 
    Kevin Kelly
    Kevin Kelly
    05.07.2010

    Unless you're an engineer who designs cutting-edge user interfaces, you've probably never heard the name John Underkoffler before ... but you've definitely seen his work. Remember the computer Tom Cruise uses by waving his hands around in Minority Report? He designed that. And it wasn't just faked together for the movie, Underkoffler had a working prototype at MIT before that, and now he's designed a version that you can actually purchase. Underkoffler now serves as the Chief Scientist at Oblong Industries, and we spoke with him recently in connection with the now-on-Blu-ray Minority Report, and he talked extensively about the future of computing, how video games are driving technology forward, what in the hell the game Tempest is all about, and why it's time for the mouse to die. Read on after the break for the full interview.