An imagination is no longer required to enjoy a sandbox, thanks to some Czech students, who use a Kinect sensor and a projector to map interactive animations of hills and rivers based on how deep the sand is.
Instead of spending hours unravelling, testing and hanging Christmas lights, in the future I’m going to do what Saks Fifth Avenue has done with their Christmas decorations; Hire a bunch of animators and just point a projector at my home.
Panasonic ducked by the Gizmodo offices to give me some hands-on time with its new ultra-bright and 3D home theatre projectors. They’re not pitched as TV replacements, but for those who want a 100-inch display without breaking the bank.
Unless you’re using a Bluetooth headset or their speakerphone, you can’t really operate a touchscreen smartphone while it’s held to your ear during a call. So this prototype once again merges a phone with a pico projector to give you full access to your device during a call, as well as the device of the person you’re talking to.
Not that keen on 3D TVs? Panasonic’s hoping to tempt buyers with its first 3D Home Theatre Projector instead, the Full HD capable PT-AE7000E.
Smartphone displays are not great for sharing, at least with a large group of people. So the combination of phones and miniature projectors was an inevitable pairing, I just wish the results weren’t so clunky.
An HD pocket projector that claims to be brighter (300 lumens), cheaper ($529) and lighter (635 grams) than its rivals? Hmm. Let me be the judge of that.
Imagine having a 3D display where lighting, viewing angles and distances from the screen were not a concern. HP’s Photon technology is a 3D display that remedies all of these issues and theoretically scales to any size screen you like.
We’ve been waiting for Star Trek-style Holodeck technology since, what, 1966? Microsoft Research has finally taken up the challenge and developed this — it’s not quite a Holodeck, but it’s tantalisingly close.
For all the power and connectivity that modern mobile devices offer these days, why are we still typing on screens (or, God forbid, numerical pads) barely three fingers wide? A new wearable GUI system aims to turn any surface within arm’s reach into an input device.
