Sunday, May 15, 2011

ZeroTouch Interface

 A team from Texas A&M University unveiled a touch screen technology they’ve been keeping in secret for a couple of years that isn’t really a screen at all. ZeroTouch is more like an empty picture frame lined with LEDs and filled with criss-crossing beams of infrared light. Like a mashup of traditional 2-D touch interface with the 3-D applications of, say, Microsoft’s Kinect, its applications are many.
The design seems so simple that it’s almost surprising we haven’t seen something like this until now. ZeroTouch is basically an empty window pane, and the LEDs and IR sensors mounted around its edges detect anything that crosses the plane of that frame (it can recognize up to 20 independent touch points at a time).


Since ZeroTouch allows a user not only to touch but to reach through the “screen,” it opens itself to a huge variety of applications. Laid on a flat surface, it can be used as a drawing board or a drafting stylus. Placed over any conventional screen, it instantly and inexpensively turns it into a touch screen. Or it can be suspended in space so the user can actually reach through it, offering it a 3-D capability that other touch screen interfaces lack. So far, 3D applications haven’t really been exploited beyond a pretty straightforward painting program, but the possibilities are there. The experts behind ZeroTouch next plan to create a layered device where multiple screens are stacked atop one another, giving it a greater degree of depth of control.

Source. PopSCI

81 comments:

Lt Nite said...

Saw this in Gizmodo the other day. Man it looks pretty cool, maybe one day it'll be implemented en mass.

Freddy S. said...

Amazing is the only word that comes to mind.

Anonymous said...

how much will your hands hurt though holding them up like that for hrs on time?

Maruko said...

Just imagine using Photoshop on this screen. Now the real question is whether it's the Android manufacturers or Apple who will get their greedy hands on it

David Newsom said...

That is awesome.

thoff74 said...

This is crazy awesome.

Unknown said...

Yea this is super cool.

aerial said...

Oh wow!! I love LEDs!!

Volpes said...

woah... crazy and amazing

followed :D

Sean said...

Whoa very very cool and awesome

Charlie said...

wooow i see why they kept it secret!

Cartoon Universe said...

That's pretty neat!

rubberband said...

This stuff is just amazing! Imagine you could actually grab through your screen and literally drag a window from the background to up front. Even if the things humans develop are not always helpful in e.g. helping third world countries they usually are promising to be a hell lot of fun!

Fortissimo said...

This is by far the coolest thing I have seen all day.

rea0503 said...

This zeroTouch technology seems pretty cool, imagine the possibilities...

Jay Reid said...

Man that's awesome!

Denis said...

wow that is amazing.

CollinBeloin said...

Holy crap i just youtubed this and saw demos of it, i cant wait till those go mainstream im definitely getting one

Zealot said...

Wow that is an amazing concept never thought touch screens would get like that. Defiantly outside the box thinking.

happyhacker said...

Oh man thank god now my hands won't be glued to the desk. I think my palm is shaped like my mouse and my fingers are about an inch farther apart from the keyboard.

slash971 said...

beat that Apple! this is technology at it's best, this is why I'm studying!

Skankin_Pete said...

Wow! This makes the Ipad look like a, 8track player!

SaysMichael said...

Interesting!

Gegenthese said...

looks awesome! :O

Carles said...

omg amazing!

Anonymous said...

Looks sick haha

Quick Reads said...

Wow, imagine the infinite uses this will have, I can't wait for them to develop something and bring it to the market, thank you for sharing! Following now, take care!

zCasanova said...

Wow, some of the YouTube videos for this are crazy.

Renkano said...

Tis the future of technology! I love your blog definitely following

Javitronic said...

NICE NICE news man! :D

Makel said...

Can't wait for this to be in every screen!

killerkun said...

I could use that to paint awesome stuff! :D

Leminur said...

Uhhh... Is that real? I wish I could have such thing.

Science said...

That's an incredible looking piece of technology, it seems very obvious as to how it works and would be developed. Looks great!

yourminigames.com said...

Looks amazing.

Eulogio Gallo said...

That is really crazy.

Broccoli said...

I am really surprised this hasn't been more known. I haven't heard about this before, and this is a great idea. All the possibilities are awesome.

Louis Ritchie said...

That... is just so cool!

Jay Reid said...

Just realised after seeing this the first time, that something like this would be really useful in AI robotics

1HipHopBlog said...

That looks insane, acid trip anyone?

Alt Gr said...

This is really creative. I'd love to see some practical applications. thanks for sharing.

Carm said...

Holy shit, those last images are amazing!

Unknown said...

I imagine there will be a demonstration of this at TED.

bentyl said...

I once saw something sorta like this. It was a digital harp that had laser beams instead of strings. When you broke a beam it would sound that string's note.

R. Mot said...

This. Is. Awesome.

neo.enviro said...

One day they'll implement biology and chemistry into this and you'll be able to check your blood with it and if say that blood is deficient in say Iron it will tell you, tell you why that matters and how to rectify the issue.

Manuel Posadas said...

haven't seen something this neat in a while!

Skinny Guy said...

This would be great for gaming!

Tg4Fans said...

...Imagine porn

paulz said...

looks awesome as its amazing the things that are being created with science / technology these days.

Anonymous said...

This looks pretty awesome.

King Corvid said...

A layered device would be absolutely amazing. The places you can go with this tech are just baffling.

n0kS Phr33d0m said...

WOW! Amazing, I'd love to have one of these at home!

Freddy S. said...

Wish i could just beta test it once.

PdxE said...

What will all these crazy university kids come up with next

Anonymous said...

wow, imagine the uses for this!-

thoff74 said...

The future is pretty much here.

TalkDaily said...

Technology never ceases to amaze me, what next? A zerotouch interface? Oh wait....

Skaerf said...

Fucking awesome, can't wait to see the practical application of this tech

Buzbee said...

thats some crazy stuff

Anonymous said...

Great post, followed!

Simon black said...

WOW! thats pretty awesome!

GuessWho said...

Mother of everything holy in the world...

Mest said...

Awesome, hope we can use at home in the near future

Valeyard said...

Wow...

thomau5 said...

this is pretty sweet. its so simple too

Jack Burton said...

Wow! I am really interested to see how this is going to be utilized in the near future,

nufcmiles said...

That's actually great, shame we wont see them in shops until next decade probably...

BKK said...

Didn't realize that the technology is already there. Let's see when this will be mass produced.

kite1099 said...

wow that actually looks pretty cool

phosports said...

that looks so cool, but too high tech for me though

ZKMin said...

woah crazy!

Triper said...

Woow looks amazing! i would like to play mortal kombat on this ;)

Say.Whaaaat said...

That's pretty awesome.

knowbuddy said...

wow. thats so damn special, never thought its even possible

JustAnotherBloggerNamedCisco said...

WTH wierd things up in here

nowbuddy said...

wow, didn't even knew that they were trying to do something like that.. but i'm definetely getting one

wellpickedbooger said...

It looks really interesting, but I dislike most touch devices because they lack a texture or pressure element. Touch without that kind of feedback feels too loose.

mindlessfrk said...

MINORITY REPORT!

Ready to Grow said...

looks like its from a movie bro

Dan Carter said...

looks pretty cool. can't wait to see how it gets used

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