Many technologies that saw the light of day only in the SF movies now have (almost) became reality. Who would have thought that video calls will be available at a touch of a finger for everybody, like we’ve seen in Star Trek for example, or the fancy gesture interface in Minority Report.

    Today it seams that almost everything is possible, as we see more and more companies launching “image touch” gadgets. Microsoft goes farther and announces a more portable experience (and cheaper) of its Surface multi-touch table computer, called Mobile Surface.

    Rendering concept of the Microsoft Mobile Surface

    Rendering concept of the Microsoft Mobile Surface

    What is this all about? As you may see in the video clip below, the new “Mobile Surface” allows users to interact with the screen projected onto a tabletop by simply moving their hands in the air above, without touching the projected image. But Microsoft doesn’t stop here, they claim to be able to enable 3D interaction with mobile devices.

    They even did some research on how to transform any surface (table, sheet of paper, a wall) to a Mobile Surface with just a mobile device and a camera-projector system helped by a special designer software by who else than Microsoft. The research doesn’t stop here, and includes methodologies on how to get a 3D object model in real-time, augmented reality and multiple-layer 3D information presentations, as Microsoft said in its description of the project.

    ... and this is how it works

    ... and this is how it works

    So, I think there is great news for teens that saw the “Avatar” movie and said they like more the life on Pandora because it is 3D (LOL). Now they have a good reason to live on Earth: it seams it will become 3D, also. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll soon experienced teleportation. Seeing what scientists have launched lately I’m optimistic as I don’t particularly like air travel.

    Sources: Gizmodo, Slashgear