Obscura demonstrates Minority Report display

US company introduces new touch technology, withouth the touch

Stuart Turton
5 Aug 2008

Obscura Digital has released a video of a new technology it's dubbed a multi-touch hologram.

The demonstration shows a man interacting with holographic images projected before him, moving them around and resizing them much as you would on Microsoft's Surface.

However, unlike Microsoft's pet project all the images are projected in the air, bringing fond memories of Minority Report to PC Pro's offices.

"We call it VisionAire. Get it, 'vision' and 'air' with a little European flair," says the company on its blog, with understandable excitement.

"Basically, we were looking for a new way to allow a presenter to interface with visual data. This uses our standard multi-touch framework and integrates it with the Musion system we have in house. The result is a truly interactive way to give presentations."

But before anybody starts debating how waving your hands in the air could actually be multi-touch the company quickly goes on to add: "Alright, alright, it is not really 'multi-touch', because you really don't touch anything. The system just senses where the presenter's hands are and allow him to interact. Multiple people could be doing this too."

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