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touchwall

Obscura Digital makes the Web HUGE

Obscura Digital produces interactive video and online installations. I got a tour of the company's studio recently from its CEO, Patrick Connolly.

In addition to the demo of updated multitouch video wall (see video), I sat inside the 30-foot-diameter dome that Obscura can project anything on to. It's been used to sell as yet unbuilt real estate, to wow VIPs during events at Google, and to pitch products for AOL and Pioneer at trade shows. Think of it as a new-tech planetarium, but one that projects primarily marketing imagery.

The company also makes much smaller domes, sized for … Read more

Gates: Every surface to be a computer

It's one step removed from the Midas approach, but Bill Gates wants to turn nearly everything we touch into a computer.

Speaking to a crowd of CEOs gathered in Redmond, Wash., Gates showed off prototype technology he said will allow home and office walls to become computers.

While Microsoft's Surface computers are currently shipping for about $10,000, Gates said the hardware costs for such products need not be that high. Within a few years, it could be in the hands of individuals.

"We're saying it will be absolutely pervasive," Gates said. "When I … Read more

Gates demos TouchWall computer

In his waning days as a full-time employee, Bill Gates is getting a little touchy-feely.

I'm not sure whether Gates is getting more emotional, but he is definitely big on the power of new user interfaces, especially touch-screen devices. On Wednesday, he is set to show off Microsoft's latest prototype, known as TouchWall.

The device to be shown Wednesday is something like a giant Surface unit turned on its side.

TouchWall is one of several multitouch prototypes Microsoft Research has created, in addition to the tabletop unit that Microsoft's Surface group has begun to sell commercially. Among … Read more