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

 

AirTouch Panels Means No More Dirty Touchscreens!

I've never been particularly terrified of dirty touchscreens, but now that I carry hand sanitizer in my car I guess I must be more concerned. Anyway, technology to the Rescue!

As the coronavirus pandemic persists, we’re beginning to face a new normal where we all stay two meters (or six feet) apart, avoid touching things, and avoid crowded places....

One new method that restaurants, libraries, doctors’ offices, and many other public places may soon use to combat coronavirus is exchanging physical touch screens for holographic ones. You know, like the kind you’d see in sci-fi films? They hover in the air and respond to your touch, so you can swipe and tap to operate the “screen”.

The new Air Touch Panel, developed by Hakuhodo Product’s, Inc. may not be quite as fancy or advanced as what Tom Cruise used in Minority Report, but it’s still a pretty cool piece of technology. It makes use of the Parity Mirror 300, a special panel produced by Japanese company Parity Innovations that uses geometrical optics to form an image of light beams in the air. However, instead of being holographic or faintly translucent, the Air Touch Panel’s air screen looks solid from any angle and at any distance. A motion sensor in the machine tracks the movement of your hands and fingers, or even a touch pen, and a small-scale computer processes the movement and operates the screen.

(Via SoraNews24)

Fans of Frederik Pohl and his amazing 1966 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot can put down their hand sanitizer and make use of the virtual keyboard:

His hands flashed over the keyboard - it had not been there a moment before, but it was operative...

This may be the answer to my 2008 question Where's My Hand Waving Gesture Recognition Interface?, full of popular film references to this idea.

Thanks of course to Winchell Chung!

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/17/2020)

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 ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Display ")

Transparent 4K OLED Wireless TV From LG
You will note that HG Wells also figured out the aspect ratio of the future!

DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access
Amazing tactile display.

Transparent MicroLED Screen From Samsung
Has Samsung nailed the Look of Things To Come?

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

 

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

Will AIs Give Better Results If You're Rude To Them?
'I said, "Listen up, motherf*cker.'

Cybertruck Robotic Arm F10 Drone Launch!
Drone away!

Black Fungus Blocks Radiation
'You were surrounded by Astrophage most of the time'

Liuzhi Process Now In Use In China
'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'

Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'

Will Robots Become Family Caregivers?
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'

Chinese Tokamak Uses AI To Keep Fusion Plasma Stable
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'

Time Crystals Can Now Be Seen Directly
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'

RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.'

Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'

Alexa+ And Its AI Brain Improvements
'What's it do?' he asked. 'It amuses.'

Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?

Brain Implant Is Able To Capture Your Inner Dialogue
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me.'

Are AIs Going Rogue Like Hal 9000
'I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me...'

Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'

LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.

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.