Microsoft just announced their new Surface product. It’s a coffee table sized monitor with a multi-touch (more than one finger) touch screen interface. I think it has amazing possibilities I’m finally glad someone is coming up with an option to the mouse/keyboard interface. It’s a start anyway. It also seems like something Apple would have done, had they not have had so much success with the iPod/iPhone.
I really want Minority Report type interfaces..giant screen, actually moving stuff around with your hands and arms. At the very least, it’ll cut down on carpal tunnel syndrome a bit.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65
check this out. MS is prolly using the tech developed by this dude.
I know that these bit of technology looks cool, but no one has performed any long term studies on the human factors of this item. Have you ever played the Wii for 15 minutes straight, it is fun, but for 8-12 hours a day. Hopefully I am wrong, but these technologies are good for demos but rarely have practical use. We have been using a monitor and keyboard for 20+ years when VRD virtual retinal display was available at low cost 10+ years ago. These types of projects are nice research, but I would imagine 2015 you will have a slick plasma but using something like a keyboard or a mouse. Not convinced. Do a google search for Fitt’s law and this may convince you that it is silly to make large arm movements for gestures that can be accomplished with minor movements of a mouse or comparable device. I am not happy about this, but if you follow the history of HCI, you could conclude we do not move away from interface paradigms easily. END OF RANT.