Intuitive 3-D interface for managing data layers

08 September 2009, 2:21pm

Shahram Izadi, of Microsoft Research UK, wants to make interacting with computers more natural. For one of his touch-based interfaces, the research scientist has improved on Microsoft's already impressive touch table, Surface, to present information in a completely new way.

Surface projects infrared light and detects its reflection from fingers or other objects that are on or above a screen, enabling users to work with data displayed on the screen. Izadi's variation, called SecondLight, uses a second projector and a switchable diffuser to add another physical layer of data.

The system projects one image on the table's surface and a second, hidden image above it; passing a semiopaque object over the table reveals the second image. For instance, a user who holds a sheet of paper over an image of a human body might see the bones of the skeleton. Ultimately, Izadi envisions specialized tablets that could interact with SecondLight to facilitate collaboration; doctors working on the same patient, for example, could each add or view new data.

Source: MIT Technology Review online

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Geo: International