For the purposes of constructing a 16:9 screen, we'll turn the devices landscape and ignore the area surrounding the screen. Then, we want a perfect 16:9 ratio, so we get an array of 7698 (horizontal) by 6495 (vertical) devices. The screens are 480px horizontally and 320px vertically, for a net resolution of 3695040 by 2078400 (which you can check is slightly wider than 16:9 widescreen).
That's around 7.68 terapixels, and it represents the total number of pixels shipped in the 50,000,000+ Apple iPod touch/iPhone devices.
The physical size of this display is not 16:9 due to the extra border: it's around 34641 by 15588 inches (assuming that all devices are 2.4 by 4.5 inches), or about 962 by 433 yards. The diagonal measurement is nearly 38000 inches, or 1055 yards. #ipodcluster
if you stack the iphones in portrait like they have there, a 16:9 screen of 50 million iPhones would be a 3490 ft screen measured diagonally allowing ~.5in in between each phone #ipodcluster
This reminds me of an installation I saw in London a couple of years ago - big glass box, lots of mobile phones hanging inside it (they were still exciting back then) You dial a number, watch it ring one phone, then another, each one lights up differently, same with text messages. I forget the point now but ...aaah you had to be there I guess. #ipodcluster
MS know how to make Computing students love them. A really nice tight IDE (that they give to students for free as well) and an excellent development environment (.NET). Not to mention they give students a lot of other free software. But yeah, they really know how to market to programmers. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
Hey, this is nice, but it's nothing new. These transparent rear projection displays have been around for a long time now and widely available too. The gesture tracking with the two cameras in the base of the screen is nothing new too and has been around for a while, widely available too. The software funcionality is nothing new too.
The combination of these technologies in a presentation staged like this is cool though. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
@Rosa Golijan: I agree, despite this has been done in the past in a way larger scale, just not from Microsoft. They have the resources to promote such a product in a way no one else can.
A system like this one is fancy, but not too complicated - a glass with transparent projection foil, a cheap multimedia projector, a couple IR cameras for motion capturing and a software to analyze the video input from the cameras (there have been some open source projects floating around, but I'm sure Microsoft have their own algorithm), coupled with Win7 for cool effects. Everyone with some technical knowledge, programming skills and spare time is able to do this except the fancy staged presentation trick.
It's good thing that Microsoft are into this stuff as this means greater publicity, more demand and then commercially available plug-and-play products. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
Apple already did this 15 years ago but decided it was not what people wanted.
There, I've fed my inner troll for today.
On a more serious note. I've always wondered if the images on these types of screens can be truly opaque or if they are always slightly translucent. I'm imagining a similar annoyance as the really glossy LCDs in which you constantly have to dodge reflections to be able to see properly. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
@sneakypoo: Does this mean I don't have to toss you a cookie?
I agree about the display concerns though as I'm regularly driven nutters by overly reflective screens, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
@sneakypoo: Until you slap a link on that, I'm going to sit here and believe that this simply wasn't possible 15 years ago. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
@sneakypoo: Apple doesn't decide if people like something. They just release it anyway and say it was ahead of its time when nobody buys it. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
@Rosa Golijan: One can never have enough cookies.
@fryhole: I do believe I was talking out of my ass. Albeit quite nice to look at it doesn't always speak truthfully. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
The progression of several prototypes are really looking nice, with Surface, this prototype, and other interactive displays from a couple other companies give us a glimpse of what I imagine we will start seeing in some semi-regular fashion around the middle of the next decade.
The funny part is that we'll likely be thinking of it all as just regular technology within a few years and asking the same question of why the future isn't coming soon enough.
Sure, we don't have flying cars, but we have hybrids and electric cars, as well as a fairly futuristic-looking Aptera, we have cellphones a dime a dozen compared to when I were a kid thinking that might be impossible (Sure, there were the brick phones in the box from Cellular one for 5.99 a minute, but that's another topic.), and many of us never thought we'd see flatpanel TVs, only thinking that a hundred inch would take some REALLY HUGE CRTs or lamps. And did anyone think we were going to have Tazer guns already? It's no phaser, but they are sci-fi like. Just saying.
But back to today, I am amazed at alot of technology is shaping to look like. That includes this display. I certainly can't wait to take a closer look at it, either. Now, who wants to play Peggle on this thing? #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!! was starred
Soldier_CLE says DON'T STOP AT THE STAR! REVOKE THE WHOLE DAMN THING, OWEN!!! was unstarred
@preferiti: I'm thinking the price will be about a leg and a nose. You keep the arms and hands for the touch-less waving. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
i know some things...not everything, but some things. i have no idea what ultrasound baby-spotting is. not even a small clue. what is baby-spotting? and why must it be done via ultrasound? and why is it so difficult that it's important to note an advancement of 8x? #acoustichyperlens
@wileecoyote: It's not baby-spotting. It's "babe" spotting. The use of acoustic waves to detect hotties around you in 3D. Kind of like what Ben Affleck could do in that Daredevil movie. The benefits of 8x improvements should be self-evident.
Once I figured out that Xiang Zhang is probably the Chinese arm of Zig Zag, it all became clear. #acoustichyperlens
11/09/09
That's around 7.68 terapixels, and it represents the total number of pixels shipped in the 50,000,000+ Apple iPod touch/iPhone devices.
The physical size of this display is not 16:9 due to the extra border: it's around 34641 by 15588 inches (assuming that all devices are 2.4 by 4.5 inches), or about 962 by 433 yards. The diagonal measurement is nearly 38000 inches, or 1055 yards. #ipodcluster
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The combination of these technologies in a presentation staged like this is cool though. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
11/06/09
A system like this one is fancy, but not too complicated - a glass with transparent projection foil, a cheap multimedia projector, a couple IR cameras for motion capturing and a software to analyze the video input from the cameras (there have been some open source projects floating around, but I'm sure Microsoft have their own algorithm), coupled with Win7 for cool effects. Everyone with some technical knowledge, programming skills and spare time is able to do this except the fancy staged presentation trick.
It's good thing that Microsoft are into this stuff as this means greater publicity, more demand and then commercially available plug-and-play products. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
Where I'm from, that costs $2/minute and you have to clean up the little room when you're finished. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
There, I've fed my inner troll for today.
On a more serious note. I've always wondered if the images on these types of screens can be truly opaque or if they are always slightly translucent. I'm imagining a similar annoyance as the really glossy LCDs in which you constantly have to dodge reflections to be able to see properly. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
I agree about the display concerns though as I'm regularly driven nutters by overly reflective screens, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
11/06/09
11/06/09
@fryhole: I do believe I was talking out of my ass. Albeit quite nice to look at it doesn't always speak truthfully. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
The funny part is that we'll likely be thinking of it all as just regular technology within a few years and asking the same question of why the future isn't coming soon enough.
Sure, we don't have flying cars, but we have hybrids and electric cars, as well as a fairly futuristic-looking Aptera, we have cellphones a dime a dozen compared to when I were a kid thinking that might be impossible (Sure, there were the brick phones in the box from Cellular one for 5.99 a minute, but that's another topic.), and many of us never thought we'd see flatpanel TVs, only thinking that a hundred inch would take some REALLY HUGE CRTs or lamps. And did anyone think we were going to have Tazer guns already? It's no phaser, but they are sci-fi like. Just saying.
But back to today, I am amazed at alot of technology is shaping to look like. That includes this display. I certainly can't wait to take a closer look at it, either. Now, who wants to play Peggle on this thing? #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
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Fixed though. Thank you. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
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Thank you. #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
11/06/09
What? #microsofttouchlessuserinterfac...
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Once I figured out that Xiang Zhang is probably the Chinese arm of Zig Zag, it all became clear. #acoustichyperlens
10/26/09
"ultrasound-baby spotting"
Hope that clears things up for you. #acoustichyperlens
10/26/09
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09/29/09