Microsoft has combined Samsung’s transparent OLED with a sub-two-inch camera to revolutionise the Microsoft Surface platform. The touchless telepresence screen creates a 3D gesture-control interface that tracks movement by seeing through the display. The company’s Applied Sciences Group has also used its recently revealed wedge shaped lens, that InAVate reported on last month, to deliver glasses-free 3D content.
The Applied Sciences Group says: “In the future, display technology will move towards being an interactive window on the digital world, where the display will know who and where the user is, present content that is context aware, and allow natural interactions with the display surface.”
To achieve its aims the Group has developed imaging light-guide technology which allows cameras and steerable light sources to be multiplexed with displays.
Microsoft Surface has always used cameras and image recognition to recognise different types of objects such as fingers, tagged items and shapes. Previously the input was processed by the computer and the resulting interaction displayed using rear projection. The user was able to manipulate content and interact with the computer using natural touch and hand gestures, instead of a typical mouse and keyboard.
However, the latest breakthrough could revolutionise the Surface concept, taking touch away from the display and projecting the images in 3D.