Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall Gives CNN Magic

CNN's Magic Wall brings the same kind of showmanship to television that the wired glove interface display brought to Steven Spielberg's movie Minority Report.


(CNN's magic wall display)

Jeff Han, the creator of the device, calls it a Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall. The device is sold by his company Perceptive Pixel.

Tap on the display and bring up more data. Pinch the boundaries of a map, and shrink it. Grab it with one hand and move it aside. Think "wall-size iPhone."

"It's a stupendous way to explain a lot of complicated data," says David Bohrman, chief producer of CNN's political coverage. "Fundamentally, our job is to explain things to people, and we need to do it visually. This lets us do it naturally, without a keyboard or mouse getting in the way."

Since I know you'd like one, you'll need to start saving your lunch money - a basic unit goes for about $100,000.

Fans of sf and director Steven Spielberg already recognized the basic idea. In the 2002 movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise's character uses wired gloves to get a similar effect.


(Tom Cruise looks for clues)

Microsoft is not about to let Apple and Han have all the multi-touch fun; take a look at a video demonstration of Microsoft Surface. And in related news, Microsoft announced this week that it was moving up plans to release a consumer version of Surface; early customers may see them as early as this spring.

See a multi-touch display demonstration video by Jeff Han; see a variety of multi-touch technologies.

And I almost forgot (thanks, BobD), it turns out that you can make your own DIY multitouch whiteboard with your handy Wii for about $99,000 less - see Wiimote-Based Multi-Touch Whiteboard from the king of Wiihacking, Johnny Chung Lee of Carnegie Mellon.

Story via CNN Hits The Wall for the Election.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/6/2008)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 3 )

Related News Stories - (" Display ")

Augmented Reality Book Covers Reveal The Inner Book
'The E-paper holograms leaped from lurid covers...' - Greg Bear, 2003.

TCL CSOT 17-Inch Printed OLED Scrolling Display
'..a wide sheet of clear material suddenly flared with light and swirling colour.' - EC Tubb, 1958.

Looking Glass Display Good Enough For Science Fiction, Fantasy
'The figure seemed to be swimming toward the surface.' - Roger Zelazny, 1981.

LG Wing Twisting Smartphone Might Be Fun
'A polycarbon screen unfurled...' - William Gibson, 1986.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

ESTHER Tennis Robot V. Fact (1934) And Fiction (1952)
'THE red tennis robot scooted desperately across the court...'

Japan's LignoSat Space Wood Satellite And Dan Simmons' Treeship
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'

Skyline Robotics Instantiates Heinlein's 'Window Willie' Skyscraper Robot
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'

Drone Bombings In Moscow Foreseen 100 Years Ago
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'

I Didn't Know You Can Already Buy Flesh Putty
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'

'A Sign in Space' Gives Practice In Decoding ET Messages
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'

Melting Permafrost Endangers Infrastructure
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'

EELS Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor For Enceladus
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'

Lazy Lawyer's Trust In ChatGPT Misplaced
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'

Paradromics Implant FDA 'Breakthrough Device'
'I used my implant to tell MILLIE what we wanted...'

Mice, At Least, Can Sober Up Quickly
'Then draw some aldodote-vitamin pills from the medic.'

Is It Time For Lunar Farside Telescopes?
'Mount Ambarzumian Observatory, on Farside.'

Spaceflight Vertigo Solved By NASA Releasing The Kraken
"I threw up in my helmet."

TM-62 Loitering Ground Landmine
Runaway movie comes to life!

Helpful Robots In Science Fiction
'If you douse me again... I'm donating you to a city college.'

Lunar Pogo Stick - Retro Technovelgy From 1968
'Lucky touched the leap knob...'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.