Why can’t I buy a Canesta projection keyboard for my Zaurus? This is such cool technology, and there’s no actual on-sale product based on it!
Moreover, could you put a data projector in a laptop? That way, the “screen” would just be a white thing that folded up, rather than a solid LCD block.
I’ve got this dream of a laptop which is the size of a pack of cigarettes: you unfold a little flat white “screen” from the back of it that a data projector in the “laptop” projects your screen onto, and you project a keyboard from it onto a flat surface in front of it (or another unfoldable “screen“) using Canesta’s technology. You couldn’t put a DVD drive in it, but you could put a load of USB ports on it to plug a USB DVD drive into. And you could stick wireless networking, a network port, and Bluetooth into it. It’d be brilliant. Is it even remotely possible? Can you make data projectors that small if they don’t have to project very far? Can you project onto a screen that isn’t directly in front of you? If the projector was at the bottom of the screen, then the picture would be weirdly elongated when projected, but the video drivers could correct for that by projecteing a distorted image which looked OK on the “screen“, no? Like those adverts you get on cricket fields and Grand Prix circuits that look like they’re standing upright on the telly; if you actually see one at ground level, they’re oddly stretched and wrong. That sort of principle.
Problem is, even if this was theoretically possible, I couldn’t build it; I can hardly make a hardware platform in my study! Suppose I could set up a company to do it :-)
And this is Next generation laptop, written , and concerning Uncategorized
Comments
sparkes
sil
Hm. I'm not clear that laser projectors that can actually project an image like a computer desktop do exist, you know :)
http://web.media.mit.edu/~wsierra/Enhanced.htm is totally rubbish, for example...
sil
I might be wrong, though. Can you project an image using three coloured lasers?
sparkes
Can you project an image using three coloured lasers?
You can if you accept it is a vector image and not the bitmaps you have grown used to o.
see http://games.lasers.org/pictures.shtml for screen shots of mame played with laser projectors. I really like the look of this project and a little more spare cash and I would probably rig this up with some arcade controls ;-)
sparkes
sil
Hm. But how would you have a desktop environment based on vector graphics? I mean, it'd look arse! You can't have a solid block of colour.
Don't say "ooh, ooh, Display Postscript! OS X is vector-based!" You can't do that with lasers. All you can do is draw lines. No gradient fills or any of that shit.
So wht would a desktop based solely on line drawing be like?
Can you get fine enough resolution off lasers to, say, draw letters? Can you do them in a particular font? Can you get the equivalent of a 640x480 screen?
sparkes
you can draw letter in any font you like, fonts are vector.
The resolution thing is different. You get a totally different quality. A 640x480 bitmap would look shite rendered as a vector just as bitmap devices need anti-aliasing to get a vector looking anything but shite.
It's just a different media and would take some getting used to. But while you are getting used to a projected keyboard with no tactile feedback the output device won't be your only problem ;-)
Jon B
I actually had a similar idea myself - my idea of the future is a portable 'life device' that carries all your computer carries and more - basically something like a ipod in size with a colour organic led screen which runs a small screen version of the installed os, the unit has simple navigation device like a touch panel or again similar to ipod - this is just the basic functionality (dual screen laptops are part of longhorn plan!). also it would feature a cool laser keyboard projector for typeing on the go, or the usual 'grafiti' style text recognition on the touchpanel. Then the unit also has the ability to project it's own screen but rather than requiring a white fold-out board it uses the techniques employed in those 3D 'beer projectors' that are currently in bars in japan projecting 3D objects onto bars to fool or get peoples attention. This coupled with longhorns rumoured ability with 3D os functions would be cool - then when you get to the office or home you can wireless connect the device to your home entertainment system, and whatever large monitor or projector you desire, or any other peripheral for that matter.
All the technology is here now - but it obviously needs refining before we see 'super PDAs' like these - I'm convinced they will be along within a matter of years, we'll all have many terabytes of storage in a tiny 'take anywhere, work anywhere' package. The future is looking cool.
sil
What I meant by resolution is: on a 640x480 bitmap screen you can get X amount of text. Can you, using a laser vector display, get the same (or a larger) amount of text at the same (or better) clarity in the same amount of space?
sil
Something to look at re this: http://www.symbol.com/LPD
sil
If projection keyboards are shit, there are real foldable thin(ish) keyboards: http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/stowaway_xt_ultra_thin_keyboard_review for one example. It could perhaps fold and then swing inside the laptop box.
sil
Also see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5359724.stm if it's actually real.
as days pass by, by Stuart Langridge » Blog Archive » Technology I would like that isn’t here yet
[...] My cigarette-pack laptop [...]
Adam Sweet
I think they changed their site around. The new URL is http://www.canesta.com/html/celluon.htm
Using the same projector components as the laser keyboard you can project a vector image as the output device.
A few lasers of different colours would result in a vector screen like the one on atari starwars.
MDA like terminal screens with a triple color and your keyboard could be projected from a device the size of 20 benson with a strong arm processor, mini speaker and sd slots for memory.
Everything is available to make this device you just need to first get someone to fund it and then (the harder part) pursude people they actully want one ;-)