Using a lamp, turn any tabletop into a multi-touch 3D display
It was Intel’s research project that turns almost any surface into a touchscreen, which impressed us to the core, and now a desktop lamp that turns a table-top into an interactive high-res 3D display is what has got us completely floored. Conceived by Li-Wei Chan and his team at National Taiwan University in Taipei, this lamp has infrared projector and a standard color projector built-in, which simultaneously project visible data and invisible markers on the table-top for multiple users to access – thus turning the table-top into a large smartphone screen where users can play around with interactive 3D map etc. Hit the jump to see a video demonstration of the lamp projecting interactive display.
Displayed at the SIGGRAPH computer graphics and animation conference in Los Angeles, this multi-touch table-top displays project also allows users to zoom in and out of specific areas on the map and other three-dimensional content projected onto the table. For more fun we learn, the lamp is also provided in a flashlight design, which besides other things can be used with high-res scans of paintings in museums etc., to zoom in and out of the selected items for detail. To accompany the lamp, the team of researchers has also created a tablet PC, which shows 2D content in 3D when the tablet is held over the area of interest.
Via: NewScientist
