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Old 09-27-2005, 01:41 PM   #1
Bob Russell
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On the verge of handheld input and display revolutions?

I want to propose a new angle on two technologies that might very well be adaptable to handheld computing input and output. The first is a bit of a reach. Maybe. But the second is something I think deserves some immediate attention, and has the potential to revolutionize portable media devices also.

These concepts are both focused on those times you place your mobile device on a desk while you are away and want to do some "real" computing, so I understand it's not going to be a part of all devices. It will have a niche market with power users.

Mobile devices with computer-type power are already common, but will become much more common as businesses roll out the next generations of smartphone and more powerful mobile computing devices. Remember that you can already think of many pdas and smart phones as computers, but with slightly less power. You can do word processing, work with MS Office documents, do email and most of the most common computing activites. Due to size constraints, they just don't have a very nice interface compared to the desktop. But the computing power is improving and will continue to improve.

So with that introduction, and the obvious need to have better input/output options when you're on the road, here we go:

Warm up.. Concept #1
Virtual Mouse/pen input. We've already seen a product at reasonable pricing that is a virtual laser keyboard. It projects with laser light a keyboard onto a surface, and it can track your finger movement to track your typing as if it was a real keyboard. Personally, while I love the technology, I'm not sure it's being used properly. I think a foldable keyboard will always be the way to go. But what if you had a real or virtual pad of paper that tracks your writing and notes with the same technology. I think that beats writing on a display screen any day. And if you attach this to the mobile device, then project the outline of a piece of paper with some optional lines on the paper, and set any old piece of paper next to the device for "real" pen input. Or if no paper is available, write with a soft-tipped stylus on the surface - no paper needed!

The notes can be stored as a picture, say in an application like One Note or Evernote. The device doesn't have to know what's in it if you give it a title and tell it where to be stored.

Blockbuster Idea... Concept #2
You've probably seen that there are a lot of experimental technolgies being worked on for projecting an image on the wall from a mobile device. They use lasers and are very low power with impressive brightness, and they could potentially be used in meetings in place of a standard standalone light projector for presentations. The primary hurdle at this point seems to be making color versions affordable because of the expense of blue light lasers. Red lasers are used in all kinds of consumer products, so they are cheap. Blue lasers are only beginning to get adopted, so it will be a while before they are economical. The issues with brightness and resolution may take some time.

But what if, both as an intermediate step and as an added feature on the full-fledged projectors, you could project a smaller 5"x8" image on a screen that unfolds from your mobile device? Maybe it's even carried with your bluetooth keyboard for your serious computing sessions with that mobile phone or pda.

All of a sudden, it's not such a stretch to see how great displays can be projected with much less technology. The highest resolutions and brightness is no longer as much of a challenge when projecting up close. If the screen is carried with the folding keyboard, you get great input-output in an easy to carry accessory. We recently saw a prototype device with a fold up screen, so certainly that's not impossible. Especially when we're only talking about the blank screen to project onto, not a full flexible epaper display (which we are all starting to wonder if it can be developed and sold in our lifetimes the way things are going!).

Conclusion
It may not the the ultimate answer, but these technologies to supplement the onboard touch sensitive lcd displays may be very, very near if used in this way, and could potentially be the bridge we need between current lcd screens and future fancy epaper displays.

It seems like our dream input and display technologies are always just too far off. Maybe these versions don't need to be... and it never hurts to dream!
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Old 09-27-2005, 03:17 PM   #2
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I've had the same ideas as you mostly.
This is my entry for the best pda contest of palm247 :

Individual post : http://www.clieuk.co.uk/forum/showpo...2&postcount=10

and the others entries :

http://www.clieuk.co.uk/forum/showth...3&page=1&pp=10

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Old 09-27-2005, 09:27 PM   #3
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Has anyone of you seen Spielberg's Minority Report? You don't have to be a Tom Cruise fan (especially with his embarrassing public appearances) to appreciate the dazzling technologies from that movie. Forget the keyboard and the mouse, forget voice interaction... it's time for a gestural method of input, whereby specific hand movements represent different commands. Or how about terrifically realistic hologram technology? It's just one step further, and yet not too far to be unthinkable, from Bob's original idea of using a virtual input device and a projector to turn handheld computing into serious computer business.
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