This video has a table top screen (either an LCD or a projector from below) which they call a�tangible musical instrument. Basically you drop blocks on it and the interface detects the function or sample of a block. The sample or function plays a sound or modifies the surrounding blocks. It's a half virtual half physical sample studio.

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Here's an interesting 'website browser' built in Javascript which fakes a 3D browser environment. It displays screen shots of sites in a floating cube which you can navigate in 3D through. You can click on a site to full screen it and make it interactive. I think he is just using Javascript to fake the 3D and not SVG.

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Here is a pretty cool do it yourself project that turns an optical mouse into kind of a reverse trackball. Basically it is an optical mouse shaped like a piece of soap that is in an elastic/silk/polyester bag. You can rotate the mouse inside the bag like it was a wet bar of soap. You can also move the fabric of the bag with your thumb over the optical sensor causing the mouse cursor to move around. The video itself explains it much better including how make one for yourself. It seems like it works pretty well from watching the people in the video play games and navigate windows with it.

Watch the SOAP like interface device video below or click over and view it on the host site.

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Here's a prototype screen interface from Microsoft which was demoed at the CEBIT 2006 conference. It's very similar to the interface from the movie Minority Report. I believe they are using a rear projector (though it's possible they are using an LCD). Basically there is a piece of glass with the display on it and then behind the glass is a motion sensor which tracks the user movements (I believe). There is either an LCD sandwiched in between two pieces of glass or a rear projector. I also think this is the interface that Robert Scoble�talks about in this interview.

Check out the video of the interface ala Minority Report below or click over and view it on the host site.

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Here is a Flash animation which took the artist around three months to complete where a stick figure battles the artist in the Flash interface. The artist draws the stick figure who then gets a life of his own and attempts to escape. The stick figure grabs interface elements and uses drawings to battle the artist while the artist tries to destroy the stick figure by drawing guns and turrets that fire on the stick figure. The artist is even able to tie up the stick figure a few times but he escapes each time. Finally the stick figure liberates clones of himself and really starts taking over. At this point the artist closes the Flash document that the stick figure is living in.

Check out the full flash animation of this stick figure battling the artist for his life.

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In this video they demonstrate a desktop interface system where the desktop is a 3d space and 'documents' (or windows) are physics effected objects that can be thrown around, stacked, organized, unorganized, folded, crumpled up, and/or enlarged. The majority of it is them working with small 'square' documents which only show the type of the file (the icon like a PDF). However, near the end of the video they start working with browser windows and images which look and 'feel' like a real stack of physical photos. The interface seems to be completely mouse based with lots of 'circle the 3d document objects' to select them and then perform a function. Probably the best one is the effect of crumpling a document or window up, throwing it in a corner, and watching it bounce around. It seems like it would be a more natural way of organizing (or at least ) accessing windows because instead of a flat surface you have a stack of off center windows where you can see a small amount of the content in each. Combine this with the top down touch screen table display for a couple days ago. Now apply the same functionality to video games or each individual website in a web browser for the win.

Watch the full video of the 3d desktop object demonstration below or click over and view it on the host site.

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This video features the table top (projection from above) display combined with a touch and voice recognition interface for Warcraft III and Google Earth. First they show Google Earth and the guy uses his hands to pan around, zoom in, select regions, and measure distances. He also combines in some voice commands which compliment the interactivity provided by the touch display. Next up he demonstrates using the screen to play Warcraft III. He selects a group of units by placing an arm on each side of the units and he also uses voice commands such as 'build farm' which pops up a farm to be built by the next available worker and then touchs the screen to show where it should be built. At the very end they show a quick clip of two people controling the same Warcraft III interface.

Click over and view the full video of the table top projection display interface for yourself.

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This video is apparently of a prototype device that Sony is working on called 'Data Tiles' or some such. There is an oval with a LCD in the center of it and the LCD is split up into 12 tiles (four across and three down). There are a number of glass tiles with different etchings on them like 'weather', 'timemachine', and 'map'. The user takes the tiles and places them on the tile spots on top of the LCD. Under the times the LCD lights with as the 'widget' or application associated with the timer. You can also chain the tiles togather for example by placing a 'timemachine' next to a 'weather' you can scan back and forth through time data for the weather. Add a camera tile to the mix and it scans back and forth through the camera video based on the time in the time tile. It seems like digital lego displays which would allow people to chain tiles togather to create applications without knowing anything about programming. Cool stuff.

Watch the full video of the data tiles prototype video below or click over and view it on the host site.

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So the guys in this video have a hologram like projection unit which looks pretty awesome. Apparently it blows air up in a stream (or treats the air somehow) and then a projector projects an image on the stream of air from behind it. You know that hologram sure looks like the one in the first Star Wars as it is�all wavy and fuzzy. Life immitating art immitating life? Additionally they have a touch control interface (similar to another video we posted of a similar technology). What seems to be different about this hologram projection is that the air is clear (or appears that way) verses having a screen of fog to project the image on.

Check out the full video of the Star Warsy hologram below or click over and view it on the host site.

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So here is another video from CeBIT I found which shows a 'Mixed Reality Interface'. Basically there is a smooth table with various objects on it which are also represented in 3D space in the screen behind the table. So when�you move the block or ball that is on the table it also moves that object inside the virtual 3D space on the monitor. I don't know if they have some kind of position tracker in (or under) each object or it reads objects dynamically via a camera or some such. There is also a camera object which the guy can move around on the table and it moves the view in the virtual 3D space around as well. I was trying to come up with some real world applications for this kind of thing and some of the things I came up with were: a real time battleplan interface for the military (think minatures in WWII movies), creating virtual 3D movies ala stop motion but you're moving the realworld objects around�for the virtual world camera, and possibly air traffic control. It would also make a pretty cool video game interface. The host site has a link to the creaters of the interface in the video and a link to the guy who captured the video.

Check out the full video of the mixed reality interface below or click over to view it on the host site.

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